- US rejected Iran's truce plan due to high demands for sanctions relief and blockade removal
- Iran sought release of frozen assets and lifting of oil sanctions to reopen Strait of Hormuz
- US distrusts Iran's promises and views the proposal as a cynical negotiation tactic
US President Donald Trump rejected Iran's new truce plan to start the process to end the war in the Middle East because Tehran demanded 'too much' concession in exchange for a return to the negotiating table, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said.
Speaking to NBC News, Waltz said negotiators from the Islamic Republic were asking for removal of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and sanctions relief, among other measures, upfront, just to restart talks, but Trump doesn't trust Tehran to stick to its promises.
"This was, I think, a pretty cynical attempt to put something on the table that they knew was unacceptable. To ask for the release of the blockade, the sanctions, international sanctions, and access to billions in assets, just to talk," he said.
Donald Trump rejected the deal, stating that Iranian leaders wanted the deal because "they are losing so badly."
"I think it's kind of common sense that the president doesn't have a lot of confidence this time after we just tried a few months ago, but at the end of the day, of course, the president, this has to end in some type of arrangement," Waltz said. "But he's going to leave all options on the table to get there."
Iran's Reply
Iran's truce plan, announced by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the United Nations last week, calls for the release of frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil, and the end to the US naval blockade for the Strait of Hormuz, central to the world's energy supplies, to be opened.
Hormuz is a key chokepoint for the world's energy supplies and is now central to the conflict between Washington and Tehran, which was started nearly seven months ago when the US and Israel launched a wave of strikes against Iran.
Speaking on NBC shortly after the US rejected the proposal, Araghchi denounced what he described as "old, unproved accusations" made by the US diplomat.
"We are ready to open the strait if certain things are done by the US, and these certain things are not new and have not come from the space," he said.
"These are our rights that we want to be respected," Araghchi added, taking a pessimistic tone regarding the prospect of a deal.
"There is also always hope for diplomacy, but we have no reason, to be honest with you, we have no reason to come back to diplomacy and engage with this administration once again because of their behaviour in the past two years," he told NBC.
Status of Truce Talks
Trump, meanwhile, dismissed Iran's peace plan and has mused on resuming full-scale air strikes on Iranian targets, but he told the news platform Axios that he expects negotiations to resume in the coming week.
"They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make. It is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago," Trump told Axios.
"They overplayed their hand," he added.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, Axios reported that indirect talks between Washington and Tehran could take place as early as Monday.
