Trump rejects Iran’s seven-day Hormuz plan
Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran would not back down and was waiting for a formal reply through mediators rather than Trump’s public remarks.
President Trump has rejected a seven-day plan put forward by Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, telling reporters at the White House on 26 September that the proposal “would not be acceptable”, Al Jazeera reported.
Iran’s roadmap, announced at the United Nations General Assembly the previous day, called on the United States to release frozen Iranian funds, lift oil sanctions and end its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Those steps could be completed within four or five days, clearing the way for the strait to reopen by the seventh.
The plan also sought a halt to hostilities across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, before the strait reopens.
Trump said Iran wanted a deal because it was “losing so badly”, and added that a deal was something the US president would also like to make.
Tehran’s reply came on 27 September. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on Telegram that Iran “will not back down” on its conditions and that the foreign minister was waiting for a formal response through mediators rather than relying on Trump’s public statements, which Araghchi described as contradictory. Only a negotiated solution can resolve the deadlock, the post added.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Tehran has “no trust in the American side”, citing past violations of agreements by Washington.
Araghchi did not say when a response from the mediators was expected.