Trump Rejects Iran's Strait of Hormuz Plan
At the White House, Trump rejected Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt the fighting, an offer Tehran floated through Qatar with a seven-day deadline.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday, September 26, at the White House that he was turning down Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and stop the fighting in the Middle East. The war, now in its seventh month, has already disrupted oil shipments through one of the world’s busiest waterways, and a jump in crude prices tends to reach Serbian pump prices too, though only after a delay.
The proposal reached the Americans through Qatari mediators during the United Nations General Assembly session in New York. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi laid out the plan a day earlier, on Friday, telling reporters at the UN that once a deal is struck, a seven day countdown would begin toward opening the strait and pausing the region’s fighting. “If there is seriousness on the American side about reaching an agreement and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, everything is ready now,” Araghchi said, adding that broader talks, including on Iran’s nuclear program, would follow once both sides agreed on the surrounding issues.
Speaking to reporters at the White House before flying to Tennessee, Trump said that kind of deal did not work for him.
“They want to make a deal and I think that’s fine, and I like making deals. What they want is to immediately open the Strait of Hormuz, because the money isn’t coming in for them,” Trump said, adding that Iran was losing revenue because proceeds from the strait would otherwise flow straight into Tehran’s coffers.
Reuters, as carried by GMA News, quoted the president in a shorter, blunter line as well: “I’m rejecting their proposal… I rejected their deal.” CBS News reported the same remarks slightly differently, quoting Trump as saying: “I’m rejecting their deal. They want a deal that would open the strait right away.” The wording differs, but not the substance: both outlets agree the US president turned the offer down.
According to CBS News, the plan sent from Tehran calls for the United States to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports and its sanctions on Iranian oil sales, for the ceasefire to extend to Lebanon, for the strait to reopen seven days after the deal is signed, and for talks on the nuclear program to continue. Modern Diplomacy, citing Reuters, adds that Iran is also seeking a broader lifting of US sanctions and the unfreezing of its blocked funds.
On the American side, the back channel talks are being run by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. An unnamed US official described the discussions as positive and constructive, even though Trump ultimately rejected the offer. Modern Diplomacy reports that the president privately doubts Iran would actually honor the terms of any deal and has told aides a renewed bombing campaign could follow after the November congressional elections.
The war pitting the United States and Israel against Iran began on February 28 with strikes on Iranian territory, and a ceasefire reached in the meantime collapsed in July. Since then the fighting has alternated with brief lulls, while Iran and its allies, including the Houthis in Yemen, have kept striking back at US allies in the Gulf.
The US naval blockade has so far diverted 122 commercial ships, CBS News reports, seven of them in the past two days alone. Trump, for his part, claims 29 ships have been turned away from the strait. Brent crude closed at $104 a barrel, the network adds, a level that feeds directly into European, and by extension Serbian, fuel prices.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed in a CBS interview that Tehran would, if a deal is reached, allow UN inspectors to monitor its nuclear program. “Iran does not seek war, but it will defend itself against pressure, threats and attacks,” Pezeshkian said, adding that Iran has already agreed not to develop nuclear weapons.
Srpske Novine earlier reported on Trump’s threats against Iran at the UN session and on his three hour talks with Araghchi. Whether this rejection leads to another lull or to renewed strikes will largely depend on both sides’ moves in the coming weeks, before, as Trump put it, US attention shifts to the November congressional elections.
