Summary

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he has rejected a proposal by Iran to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Iran had submitted an offer through Qatari mediators on the UN General Assembly sidelines that would have seen the strait reopened in exchange for the US ending its blockade of Iranian ports, as part of a wider end to the ongoing Mideast conflict. “They made a proposal, but I rejected it,” Trump told reporters when asked about it outside the White House. “They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” Trump added, before claiming the US has “total control” over the channel. In an all-caps post on his Truth Social platform Saturday, Trump declared that “IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!!!” The Iranians also engaged their Saudi rivals regarding the strait, underscoring the stakes of a seven-month-old conflict that has disrupted oil flows through one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes and taken a toll on the global economy. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas met for talks on Tuesday with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, and previously set out conditions for ending the war and reopening the vital shipping channel. “If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, and normal maritime passage restored within seven days,” Araghchi said at the UN. The waterway key to the world’s oil supply is central to the conflict between the United States and Iran, which is at a stalemate after nearly seven months. If the US were to agree, the warring parties could start wider talks “on mutually agreed subjects,” Araqchi added. That could potentially include discussions of Iran’s nuclear program. Trump has vowed that Tehran will never acquire a nuclear bomb, while a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran will show no flexibility over its nuclear program even if the United States accepts its peace deal. Iran would grant no concessions over its rights, including enriching uranium or shipping its highly enriched uranium out of the country, the official said. Halting Iran’s nuclear program was a key goal of Israel when it launched the war in late February, together with the US. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, had previously called discussions through mediators “positive and constructive.” But Trump was privately skeptical that Iran would meet his demands, the Journal report said, and he told his staff that he sees a renewed bombing campaign as likely. Trump also posted an image to his Truth Social platform of a map showing the Strait of Hormuz circled and labeled “Trump Strait.” Iran’s proposal also reportedly calls for the release of frozen Iranian assets estimated to be worth at least $12 billion, as well as the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade of Iran. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview with broadcaster CBS that the ceasefire “process will begin from the very day they accept it.” “We had previously reached an agreement based on the MOU that was signed in Pakistan… if the United States agrees to proceed in that way, everything will return to the way it was before,” he added. Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards, told AFP in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that ending hostilities in Yemen was also among Tehran’s demands. The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in June that aimed to end the war, reopen the strait and launch talks on Iran’s nuclear program. But the deal broke down shortly afterward when Iran fired on commercial ships in Hormuz that it accused of deviating from its approved route through the waterway. Iran requires ships to obtain authorization before passage, citing security and sovereignty reasons. Ships that refuse to comply are regularly targeted, while the United States sporadically bombs Iranian coastal areas in retaliation. Previous attempts at diplomacy have failed to end the war. Since then, the war has alternated between pauses and renewed strikes, degrading Iran’s conventional forces and damaging Iran’s already ailing economy. Iran and its allies have retaliated by extending the conflict throughout the region. Iran, which controls the strait along with Oman, has struck US allies in the Gulf with drones and missiles while its Houthi allies in Yemen have targeted Saudi interests. Iranian-aligned militias in Iraq were blamed for a pipeline attack that temporarily took more Saudi oil off the market. Araqchi briefed his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan on the understanding between Iran and Oman regarding safe shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s foreign ministry said early Saturday. The war’s widening toll has also united Saudi Arabia’s allies to shore up the kingdom’s defenses. The Saudi-backed, internationally recognized Yemeni government has come under assault from Iran-linked Houthi fighters, with Houthi missiles striking inside the kingdom.