President Donald Trump confirmed that he rejected a peace proposal from Iranian negotiators on Saturday, after reports circulated about him shutting down a ceasefire proposal from the Islamic regime.
“They made a proposal, but I rejected it,” Trump told reporters on Saturday morning.
Trump’s confirmation came after the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump shut down an Iran-proposed exchange for a halt to the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, for Iran reopening the rest of the strait and the renewal of talks over its nuclear program.
The outlet’s report said Trump is planning to resume airstrikes against the regime after the midterm elections, hinging the continuation of the U.S.’s military air campaign around the timing of the crucial domestic elections as the war has become an election flashpoint.
In response to a reporter’s question over whether or not he would resume airstrikes after the November elections, Trump did not answer directly, but said Iran wants to make a deal to reopen the strait because they are “losing so badly.”
“We’re winning tremendously,” Trump said. “We have total control of the Hormuz Strait. Massive amounts of oil are coming out of the Hormuz Strait. Last night, we had 29 ships come out. They want to make a deal, and I think that’s fine. I like making a deal too, but I’m not – that deal would not be acceptable.”
Trump did not get into specifics during the gaggle about what specific points of the deal were unacceptable. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian each claimed in media appearances on Friday that the ceasefire proposal was largely based on points from the previous memorandum of understanding, which crumbled in July.
Pezeshkian told CBS News that the ceasefire framework the Iranians proposed to the U.S. on Friday had the “same objectives” as the MOU. That MOU had reportedly crumbled due to disputing interpretations over the ceasefire framework surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.
IRAN SAYS HORMUZ DEAL UP TO US AS REPORTS SIGNAL TRUMP WANTS TO RESUME BOMBING AFTER MIDTERMS
“Ultimately, the requests that were included in that memorandum and MOU have now been broken down into stages so that we can proceed according to those stages. If the United States agrees to proceed in that way, everything will return to the way it was before,” Pezeshkian said.
Trump confirmed early in the week that U.S. negotiators had met with Iranian representatives for three hours on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly for peace talks. According to Axios, a U.S. official said representatives from the two countries were still engaging in “positive and constructive” talks, including over Iran’s nuclear program.
