TRUMP REJECTS IRANIAN PEACE PROPOSAL
Tehran sought deal to reopen Strait of Hormuz, end fighting
President Donald Trump speaks to the media Saturday as he departs the White House on the South Lawn in Washington.
Army soldiers carry the remains of U.S. Army Maj. Bianca Wilkerson, who died in a noncombat-elated incident while deployed in Doha, Qatar, in support of military operations connected to the U.S.-Iran war, during a dignified transfer Saturday at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del.
WAR IN MIDDLE EAST
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Saturday he rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end fighting in the Middle East.
Iran raised the initiative at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying it was 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.
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 to attend a college football game. "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 United States imposed an economic blockade on Iran in order to put pressure on Tehran to lift its blockade of Hormuz, which drastically reduced shipping through the strait, even though Trump again asserted that the U.S. had control of the waterway.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said early Sunday that Tehran saw an initial reaction from Trump to its proposal but had yet to receive a response through mediators.
Iran was waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive U.S. position and would make a decision based on it, Araghchi added.
The Wall Street Journal reported Trump was privately skeptical that Iran would meet his demands and told his staff that he sees a renewed bombing campaign as likely after the U.S. congressional midterm elections in November.
A U.S. official earlier said discussions with Iran through mediators were "positive and constructive."
The Iranians also engaged their Saudi rivals regarding the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring the stakes of a 7-month-old conflict that disrupted oil flows through a critical shipping lane and took a toll on the global economy.
Araghchi told reporters at the United Nations on Friday that the proposed deal would trigger a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and a pause in regional fighting.
"If there is seriousness on the U.S. side to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is now prepared," Araghchi said. If the U.S. were to agree, the warring parties could start wider talks "on mutually agreed subjects."
That could potentially include discussions of Iran's nuclear program. Trump previously said Tehran must never acquire a nuclear bomb, while a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran would show no flexibility over its nuclear program even if the U.S. accepted its 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.
In an interview with the CBS show "Face the Nation," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was ready for talks on its nuclear program and other issues, but would not accept "bullying or coercion."
"Iran is not seeking war, but will defend itself against pressure, threats and attacks," Pezeshkian said, adding that it already agreed that "we're not supposed to develop nuclear weapons."
Previous attempts at diplomacy failed to end the war, which began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Since then, the war has alternated between pauses and renewed strikes, killing thousands while degrading Iran's conventional forces and damaging Iran's already ailing economy. Iran and its allies retaliated by extending the conflict throughout the region. Iran struck U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf with drones and missiles, while its Houthi allies in Yemen targeted Saudi interests.
