US President Donald Trump said that he had rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end fighting in West Asia. Trump added that they wanted to open the Strait of Hormuz because they are losing and the US is “winning tremendously”.
During the UN General Assembly in New York, Iran conveyed that it could reopen the strategic waterway and put an end to hostilities in the region within seven days, on which Iran put forward some conditions to America. But in comments to reporters at the White House, Trump said: "I reject their proposal. ... I rejected their deal.
"They want to make a deal, and I think that's fine; I like making a deal too. What they want to do is immediately open the Hormuz Strait ... because they have no money coming in, because they get their money from the Hormuz Strait," Trump said while leaving Tennessee.
The US has imposed an economic blockade on Iran to put pressure on Tehran to lift its blockade of Hormuz, which has drastically reduced shipping through the strait, even though Trump again asserted that the US had control of the waterway.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump was privately sceptical that Iran would meet his demands and had told his staff that he sees a renewed bombing campaign as likely after the November US midterm elections to Congress.
A US official had said earlier that discussions with Iran through mediators were "positive and constructive".
A conflict for which the world pay price for
Iran has also engaged Saudi Arabia over the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring the stakes of a seven-month-old war that has disrupted oil flows and hit the global economy.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Friday that the proposed deal would trigger a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and pausing regional fighting.
"If there is seriousness on the US side to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is now prepared," Araqchi said. If the US were to agree, the warring parties could start wider talks "on mutually agreed subjects."
That could potentially include discussions of Iran's nuclear programme. To which Trump clarified that Iran will not be allowed to have nuclear weapons. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran would show no flexibility over its nuclear programme even if the US accepted its peace deal. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in an interview with the CBS show "Face the Nation", said Tehran was ready for talks on its nuclear programme and other issues, but would not accept "bullying or coercion".
"Iran is not seeking war, but will defend itself against pressure, threats and attacks,” Pezeshkian said, adding that it had already agreed that "we're not supposed to develop nuclear weapons".
Previous attempts at diplomacy have failed to end the war, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks. Since then, the fighting has moved between pauses and renewed strikes, killing thousands, weakening Iran’s conventional forces and deepening its economic crisis.
The conflict has also spread beyond Iran’s borders, with Iran striking US allies in the Gulf and its Houthi allies in Yemen targeting Saudi interests. With the Strait of Hormuz at the centre of the latest diplomatic push, any breakthrough or further escalation could have consequences far beyond the battlefield
(With agency inputs from Reuters)