Iran insists on diplomatic solution after Trump rejects peace plan
WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS/DUBAI: 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 Araghchi 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.
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“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, Araghchi said.
“We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive views to us, and we will make a decision based on them,” Araghchi 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 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.
Saudi Arabia drawn deeper into war
Previous attempts at diplomacy have failed to end the war, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Since then it has alternated between pauses and renewed strikes, killing thousands while degrading the conventional forces of Iran and damaging its already ailing economy.
Iran and its allies have responded by extending the conflict throughout the region. Iran has struck US allies in the Gulf with drones and missiles while its Houthi allies in Yemen have hit Saudi interests.
Saudi Arabia, the largest of the Gulf states, has been drawn deeper into the war this month as Houthi have advanced in Yemen, routing forces of the Saudi-backed government and threatening Saudi oil exports through the Red Sea.