BBCUnited States
Goldstein: -4.0Tone: -14.3CAMEO 12
Iranian minister says only negotiation can end conflict after Trump rejects Hormuz deal
- Published
Only a "negotiated solution" can end the conflict between the US and Iran, Tehran's foreign minister has said, after President Donald Trump publicly rejected a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump told reporters at the White House that Iran's proposal was not "acceptable" and that Tehran wanted to make a deal to open the strait to commercial shipping within seven days because "they're losing so badly".
In a post on Telegram, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged Trump's rejection, but said Iran would wait for a "definitive" official US response.
He said the president had made contradictory statements in the past.
Araghchi said the conditions to open the strait were the same that had been included in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the US and Iran that was signed in June.
Iran said it had raised reopening the strait and ending hostilities during negotiations on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this past week.
The vital waterway through which around a fifth of the world's gas and oil supply usually flows has been effectively closed since the outbreak of war in February.
"I'm rejecting their deal," Trump said on Saturday, adding that the US already had "total control" of the strait, with "massive amounts of oil" passing through it, causing massive rises in global oil prices and steep fuel cost increases for consumers.
Araghchi wrote on Telegram that Trump "has made many good statements, as well as many contradictory ones, which unfortunately we hear frequently".
He continued: "We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive views to us, and we will make a decision based on them."
Separately, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, who travelled to New York for the UN general assembly, told the BBC's US news partner CBS that "distrust created by this war needs to be overcome" in order for talks to be successful.
He said the Iranians were open to talks on implementing the MOU in stages in order to end the impasse, but that the "US needs to show it does not intend to overthrow our government".
Pezeshkian said Trump had "tore up" the MOU when the US resumed its bombing campaign, adding: "If we don't abide by what we have written down, can we really resolve it by dialogue?"
He was also asked about Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured in the US strike which killed his father in February and has not been seen in public since. Reports have claimed he suffered serious injuries to his legs and face.
Pezeshkian said he had met the supreme leader on two occasions, telling CBS he had "no specific ongoing health issues or challenges" and had been well enough to hold seven hours of talks.
Oman, which has been acting as a mediator between the US and Iran, called for all parties to continue having open dialogue to resolve the crisis.
Oman's foreign minister, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi, told the UN General Debate that "all parties" should cooperate with Oman in efforts to safeguard navigation in the strategic waterway.
Trump's rejection of Iran's proposal was backed by US ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker.
Speaking to Fox News on Saturday, Whitaker said that Iran had offered "half measures" and "illusory deals to make themselves look good on the world stage".
"President Trump's right to reject it," he said.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Saturday that economic sanctions imposed by the US were taking a toll on Iran.
Posting on X, Bessent said Turkey, Oman and the United Arab Emirates had halted flights from various Iranian airlines, and some banks in the UAE and Turkey had stopped transactions with Iran.
The Trump administration has dubbed an economic blockade on Iran "Operation Economic Outcast", with the White House attempting to use economic pressure to force Tehran to stop attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
But some economists have questioned whether the latest sanctions will be effective, as this depends on the reaction from Iran's major trading partners.
These include China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, which has ignored previous US sanctions and continued to do business with Tehran.
Related topics
- Published4 days ago
Open article →BBCUnited States
Goldstein: -4.0Tone: 50.0CAMEO 12
Trump rejects Iran deal to reopen Strait of Hormuz in seven days
- Published
US President Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping within a week.
He told reporters at the White House that Tehran "want to make a deal where they open the Strait immediately because they're losing so badly".
In a post on Telegram, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged Trump's comments, but said Tehran would wait for an official response from mediators.
On Friday, Araghchi had told reporters at the UN in New York that an agreement could be reached "if the necessary conditions are met" and that these were contained in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the two countries in June.
The vital waterway through which around a fifth of the world's gas and oil supply usually flows has been effectively closed since the outbreak of war in February.
"I'm rejecting their deal," Trump said on Saturday, adding that the US already had "total control" of the strait, with "massive amounts of oil" passing through it.
"They want to make a deal, and I think that's fine. I like making a deal, too. But that deal would not be acceptable," he added.
Araghchi wrote that Trump "has made many good statements, as well as many contradictory ones, which unfortunately we hear frequently."
He added that he would await the "definitive views" of mediators, and that Tehran "will make a decision based on that."
On Friday the Wall Street Journal, external cited officials as saying Trump was sceptical that Iran would meet his demands and had told his staff that he saw a renewed bombing campaign as probable.
Iran responded to US and Israeli air strikes, beginning in late February, by attacking Israel and US bases in the Gulf and Arab Gulf allies of the US - as well as blocking the Strait of Hormuz. Its closure has caused wild fluctuations of energy prices.
The economic effects have also increased pressure on Trump to find a way of ending the conflict - particularly as the US heads towards Congressional elections in November.
Araghchi told reporters on Friday: "If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, a normal maritime passage restored within seven days,"
He added that "the actions that the United States should take are not new. They are all already in the MOU... The choice now rests with the United States."
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, told CBS News, the BBC's US partner: "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."
But Kirsten Fontenrose, who served on the National Security Council during the first Trump administration, told the BBC there was no appetite for restarting the conversation around the MOU as it is seen as a bad deal in the US and Iran was "pushing against a very closed door".
The MOU was designed to bring about a ceasefire and at least partly reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The 14-point agreement said Iran would never have a nuclear weapon. It noted that the US, Iran and their allies would end military operations on "all fronts" and contained provisions including ending a US naval blockade and other sanctions.
But the deal fell apart after both sides resumed strikes. Iran has attacked vessels it says have attempted to cross the strait without authorisation.
The US has attacked Iranian sites in the strait - as well as Iranian tankers off the country's coast. It has also maintained a blockade of Iranian ports, causing huge disruption to the Iranian economy.
Trump has since claimed the US has been successful in getting oil out through the Strait of Hormuz.
Shipping data shows a recent 10-day average of about 18 transits per day, with numbers dropping as low as nine vessels on certain days, according to Kpler, a commodities analytics firm cited by Reuters.
The situation has been exacerbated by Houthi attacks on Saudi oil installations.
Yemen's Houthis - allied to Iran - have recently intensified attacks aimed at disrupting Saudi oil exports via the Red Sea, on the other side of the Arabian peninsula to the Strait of Hormuz.
The group seized strategic stretches of Yemen's Red Sea coast this month, including the port of Mokha, which overlooks the Bab al-Mandab Strait, another chokepoint for global shipping.
On Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles and drones launched by the Houthis towards Saudi Arabia. US media report Saudi leadership has requested military support from Trump.
The US president told the UN General Assembly this week that he believed a deal with Iran would come after November's elections, while pondering whether he "annihilate the Islamic Republic" to rebuild it "quickly".
Araghchi said on Friday that "peace cannot be built through threats of annihilation".
- Published11 September
- Published3 days ago
- Published18 June
Open article →NBCUnited States
Goldstein: -4.0Tone: 0.0CAMEO 12
President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, after Iranian officials indicated that shipping through the critical waterway could resume within days if a deal was sealed.
“I rejected their deal. They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” Trump told reporters as he boarded Marine One on the White House lawn, after indirect talks between the two countries were held on the sidelines of this week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“What they wanted is to immediately open the Hormuz Strait. You know why? Because they’re dying. You know why they’re dying? Because they have no money coming in because they get their money from the Hormuz Strait,” he continued. “They outsmarted themselves. They said, ‘Let’s close it and cause a problem for the world.’ And I came along, and we put up the greatest blockade ever in military history.”
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump had rejected Iran’s offer to revive a ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said Friday that the choice “rests with the United States.”
“If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened and normal maritime passage restored within seven days,” Araghchi told reporters.
He said a “concrete seven-day plan” that includes reopening the strait had been conveyed to the U.S. through mediator Qatar and was ready to start “as soon as the United States accepts this plan.”
Iran offers new proposal to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Araghchi said the actions required of the U.S. in Iran’s proposal were commitments already agreed to in the June memorandum of understanding between the two countries that laid out plans for a temporary ceasefire. That agreement, signed in June, collapsed within days after fresh strikes were exchanged.
One of the conditions of the plan is for the U.S. to accept a maritime transit route through the Strait of Hormuz that has been agreed upon by Iran and Oman, Araghchi had said Thursday.
A U.S. official said on Friday that the Trump administration was having positive and constructive discussions through the mediators but that it was not in any hurry to reach an agreement.
“The United States is in a very strong position with control of the Strait of Hormuz, so we are not in a rush,” the U.S. official said. “Over the last 48 hours, nearly 40 million barrels of oil have transited the strait.”
Earlier this week, Trump said he was still considering whether to “annihilate” Iran or make a deal. Early Saturday, he posted an image to Truth Social of the Strait of Hormuz labeled the “Trump Strait.”
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that resolving the Hormuz issue “is possible through negotiations, not the use of force,” but warned that his country does not “trust” talks with Washington.
Trump has repeatedly said that the goal of attacking Iran was to prevent the development of a nuclear weapon. Soon after the war started, Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which some 20% of the world’s oil flowed before the conflict, sending shock waves through the world economy.
Pezeshkian on Thursday suggested his government was willing to make a deal with the U.S. to end the war before Americans head to the polls this November.
“We don’t want it to get to the midterm elections,” Pezeshkian said in a brief meeting with NBC News and other news organizations, two days after Trump said he believed the Iranian regime would not make a deal to settle the conflict until after the elections.
“I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election because it doesn’t make sense for them not to,” Trump said. “They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election.”
Polls show Democrats with an advantage heading into the November midterms. The latest NBC News Decision Desk Poll found 31% of respondents approved of Trump’s handling of the Iran war, while 69% disapproved.
The U.S. this week announced it would impose sanctions on any global companies doing business with Iranian airlines, with the aim of grounding Iran’s entire civil fleet worldwide.
Iraq said Saturday that it was engaging with the U.S. in an effort to restore humanitarian flights to and from Iran, after Iranian airlines were barred from neighboring countries in response to the sanctions.
Efforts were ongoing to “secure exemptions for certain Iraqi airports from these measures” in order to enable “the resumption of flights for humanitarian reasons, such as medical treatment, education, religious pilgrimages, and the interests of civilians,” the Iraqi prime minister’s office said.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that flights had also been shut down to Oman, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Open article →