Iran awaits US response as Trump said to reject ceasefire proposal, plot new strikes

US President Donald Trump has rejected a proposal by Iran to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing US officials.

The officials said that Trump was reluctant, however, to resume major combat operations, noting that his views could change and could be swayed by the results of the US midterm elections in November.

Iran proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the fighting in the wider Middle East war during the diplomatic initiative at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying it had been ‌transmitted to the Americans via Qatari mediators.

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They awaited an official US response to its proposal on Saturday.

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.

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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 the 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 labelled “Trump Strait.”

Frozen assets

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.

Saudi Allies unite ​

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.

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