On Sunday, Iran maintained that diplomacy is the only way to resolve its dispute with the United States and Israel, following US President Donald Trump’s statement that he had rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt hostilities.
“Our conditions are explicit, and any step toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz depends on these conditions being fulfilled,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on social media. “Only a negotiated settlement can break this stalemate.”
Iran unveiled a peace initiative last week at the UN General Assembly in New York, stating that it had been passed to the United States through Qatari intermediaries.
Trump said on Saturday that he had rejected the proposal and claimed that Iranian desperation was behind their efforts to secure an agreement over the strategic waterway.
"They want to reach a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz immediately because they are losing so badly," Trump told reporters at the White House.
Keeping the door to diplomacy open, however, Trump told Axios in a phone interview on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in more talks this week.
Araqchi said mediators facilitating Tehran's talks with Washington had not officially relayed a US rejection of the plan.
"We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive views to US, and we will make a decision based on them," Araqchi 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.
Amir Hatam, Iran’s army commander-in-chief, stated that the war had reached a critical and decisive phase, emphasizing that Tehran would not tolerate a scenario in which it was prevented from trading while foreign powers continued to use the region’s strategic waterways.
“If Iran cannot trade, if Iran cannot live, then no one will be able to trade or live,” he said, according to reports from state media.
Araqchi informed reporters at the United Nations on Friday that the proposed agreement would initiate a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and temporarily halting regional hostilities.
"If there is seriousness on the US side to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is now prepared," Araqchi said. If the US were to agree, the warring parties could start wider talks "on mutually agreed subjects."
US envoy to the United Nations Mike Waltz said on Sunday, in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, that Trump rejected Iran’s proposal because it demanded the immediate removal of sanctions and the release of frozen assets.
“In essence, they wanted everything in advance in exchange for a promise that they would then enter talks,” Waltz said.“
The president is simply not convinced that the Iranians are acting in good faith or that they are genuinely prepared to negotiate an end to their nuclear program.”
In an interview with the CBS programme "Face the Nation," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that Tehran is prepared to engage in discussions regarding its nuclear programme and other matters, but will not tolerate any form of "bullying or coercion."
Pezeshkian emphasised that Iran does not seek war, yet will defend itself against pressure, threats, and attacks. He also noted that Iran has already committed to not developing nuclear weapons.