Iran insists on diplomatic solution after Trump rejects peace plan

Iran ‌insisted on Sunday that only diplomacy can solve its conflict with the United States and Israel after US President Donald Trump said he rejected an Iranian proposal to ​reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ⁠end fighting.

"Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met," Iranian Foreign ‌Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on social media. "Only a negotiated ‌solution can get them out of this deadlock."

Iran announced a peace proposal last week at the UN General Assembly in New York, saying it had been transmitted to the Americans via Qatari mediators. Trump said on Saturday he rejected the plan and argued that desperation was driving the Iranians’ push for an agreement on the key waterway.

"They want to make a deal to open the Hormuz Strait immediately because ‌they're losing so badly," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Despite Trump's public statements, mediators facilitating Tehran's talks with Washington have not officially relayed a US rejection of the plan, Araqchi said.

"We ⁠are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive views to us, and we will make a decision based on them," Araqchi posted.

The US has imposed an economic blockade on Iran to put pressure on Tehran to stop Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, which have drastically reduced shipping through the area even as Trump repeatedly asserts that the US controls the waterway.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump had rejected the Iranian proposal, citing unnamed US officials.
It said 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.

A US official had said earlier that discussions with Iran through mediators were "positive and constructive."

The ​commander-in-chief of Iran's army, Amir Hatam, said the war was at a critical and decisive stage, adding that Tehran would not accept a situation in which it ‌was unable to trade while foreign powers used the region's strategic waterways.

"If Iran cannot trade, if Iran cannot live, no one will be able to trade or live," he said, in comments reported by state media.

Reuters