Trump rejects Iranian proposal to open Hormuz and end fighting

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday (Sep 26) he had rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end fighting in the Middle East.

Iran raised the initiative at the UN General Assembly in New York, saying it had been transmitted to the Americans via Qatari mediators and that it could reopen the strategic waterway and put an end to hostilities in the region within seven days.

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 to open the Hormuz Strait immediately because they're losing so badly," he said before leaving for Tennessee. "We're winning tremendously.

"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.

The waterway key to the world's oil supply is central to the conflict between the US and Iran, which is at a stalemate after nearly seven months, though new mediation efforts took place this week.

Iranian state media reported on Saturday that President Masoud Pezeshkian was on his way back to Tehran after attending the UN General Assembly in New York.

There he met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to the presidency, and said: "Iran has not walked away from the negotiating table, but given past experiences, it no longer trusts the United States."

Earlier in the week, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, and previously set out conditions for ending the war and reopening the vital shipping channel.

"Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan. 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 choice now rests with the United States. Iran does not accept coercion, threats or intimidation, and Iran will not surrender its sovereign rights under pressure," he added.

However, within hours of his comments The Wall Street Journal reported Trump had rejected the proposal, citing US officials familiar with the matter.

The report noted that Trump was sceptical that Tehran would meet his demands and added 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".

Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying: "We will not cease punishing the US until Iran's seven conditions are met."

Pezeshkian said Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei backed the new plan.

"Coordination with the leader of the revolution (the supreme leader)... has been carried out," he told broadcaster CBS, according to excerpts released by Iranian state media.

HOSTILITIES IN YEMEN

Iran's plan calls for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, according to Araghchi.

He said the conditions were the same as those laid out in a memorandum of understanding signed with the US earlier this year.

It notably 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.

On the seventh day of the truce, Iran would reopen Hormuz.

Pezeshkian told CBS that the "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.

Mohebi told AFP in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that ending hostilities in Yemen was also among Tehran's demands.

Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding in June that aimed to end the war, reopen the strait and launch talks on Iran's nuclear programme.

But the deal broke down shortly afterwards 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 authorisation 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.