US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s proposed seven-day roadmap for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, describing Tehran’s latest offer as unacceptable while speaking to reporters on Saturday.
“I reject their proposal,” Trump said in response to questions from journalists.
Trump said Iran was seeking a swift agreement to reopen the strategic waterway because it had been cornered. “They want to make a deal quickly and open Hormuz because they are under pressure. We are willing to make a deal, but this deal cannot be acceptable in any way,” he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier said during a visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly session that Tehran had sent Washington a new proposal.
Under the proposal, Iran said the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened within seven days and peace talks between the two countries would resume if Washington met certain conditions.
Speaking to journalists in New York, Araghchi said Iran had delivered the roadmap to the United States through mediators.
“If certain conditions are met, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened at the end of the seventh day and peace talks will resume,” Araghchi said.
Araghchi did not disclose the full details of the proposal. He said it was essentially a shortened version of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding signed on June 17.
The June understanding envisaged toll-free shipping through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days to allow peace talks to advance during that period. The agreement did not clearly specify what would happen after the 60-day period.
Iran’s new proposal reduces that timeframe to seven days and changes the sequence of negotiations.
The first stage would require an end to military operations on all fronts, including ongoing hostilities not only involving Iran but also in Lebanon.
The second stage would require the United States to lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports, ease oil sanctions and release a portion of Iran’s frozen assets.
The Strait of Hormuz would then reopen to international shipping at the end of the seventh day.
Broader peace negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme would begin only after the Strait of Hormuz had reopened.
Iran’s proposal therefore places the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as a precondition for talks, rather than making the nuclear issue the first item for negotiation.
Although the United States and Iran have not recently held direct talks, messages have been exchanged in New York through Qatari mediation.
A White House official earlier told CNN that positive and constructive discussions were taking place through mediators.
“The United States has very strong control over the Strait of Hormuz. Therefore, we are in no hurry,” the official said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also outlined a similar position, saying that any agreement with Iran would require prolonged, difficult and complex negotiations.
“If there is any agreement with Iran, it will come through long, hard and complicated negotiations,” Rubio said.
The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reported that Trump had told close aides that fresh airstrikes in Iran could be possible after the upcoming midterm elections.
The report said the president’s position could change in the coming weeks. The White House has not made any official comment on the matter.
The diplomatic deadlock between Washington and Tehran has therefore continued despite Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Both sides have said they want talks to continue, but their positions on the terms of any agreement remain clearly different.