US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end hostilities. “I reject your proposal… I rejected your deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House in Washington, DC. Iran had proposed an initiative aimed at reopening the strategic waterway at the UN General Assembly in New York, which it said could end the fighting within seven days. Tehran said the proposal had been conveyed to Washington through Qatari mediators. What did Trump say? “They want to make a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz immediately because they are losing tremendously,” Trump said, stating, “We are winning tremendously.” Earlier, a U.S. official had told Reuters that talks with Iran, held through mediators, were “positive and constructive.” But the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was skeptical that Tehran would meet his demands. He reportedly told staff that a new bombing campaign is likely after the US midterm elections in November. “They want to make a deal and I think that’s fine,” Trump said. “What they want to do is immediately open the Strait of Hormuz… because they don’t get any money, because they get their money from the Strait of Hormuz.” Iranian ports are currently under a US blockade as Washington attempts to pressure Tehran to lift its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. The key waterway remains largely closed to international shipping despite Trump’s claims that the United States is in control of it. “I, too, would like to reach a deal,” Trump said. “But that agreement would not be acceptable.” Hours earlier, the US president had posted an image on social media calling the Strait of Hormuz the “Trump Strait.” Iran offers plan to reopen Strait of Hormuz within 7 days. To view this video, please enable JavaScript and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Strait of Hormuz: What was the Iranian proposal? Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was returning to Tehran after attending the UN General Assembly in New York, told CBS News that the proposal had been developed “in coordination” with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. He said the process would have begun “from the same day they accept it.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who met with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff earlier in the week, said the plan had called for a cessation of all hostilities across the Middle East, including Lebanon, and that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen on the seventh day of the truce. He said the conditions were the same as those set out in a memorandum of understanding signed with the United States earlier this year, which called for the release of frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and the end of the US naval blockade. If you trust our team for trustworthy reporting, please take a moment to select us as your preferred source on Google by clicking here and pressing the “star” or “preferred” button, so you always see our verified news first.
