Trump ‘rejects’ Iran seven-day ceasefire plan
Shafaq News- Washington/ Tehran
US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s seven-day ceasefire proposal and told aides he expects renewed US bombing after the November midterm elections, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing US officials.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said Tehran conveyed the proposal to Washington through Qatari mediators. Under the plan, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and hostilities would end on all fronts, including Lebanon, while the United States would lift its blockade on Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian funds, and waive sanctions on Iranian oil exports. Wider negotiations could then begin on mutually agreed issues, he added.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS News that Tehran would abide by any commitments it makes if Washington accepts the proposal and that the process would begin from the day of US acceptance. He also said Iran would allow UN nuclear inspectors under an agreement reached through negotiations.
Washington and Tehran have been holding “positive and constructive discussions” through intermediaries, a US official earlier told Reuters. The agency also cited a senior Iranian official as saying Tehran would make no concessions over its nuclear program even if Washington agreed to the proposal, including on uranium enrichment or shipping highly enriched uranium abroad.
The diplomatic push follows months of failed efforts to end the conflict, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran. The war has since alternated between pauses and renewed strikes and disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
