Trump ‘not satisfied’ with Iran proposal to end war
US President Donald Trump said he was “not happy” with Iran’s latest offer in talks to end the war between the countries and rejected the plan almost as soon as it was delivered.
Iran conveyed its latest negotiating proposal to mediators in Pakistan on Thursday night, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.
“They want to make a deal, I’m not happy with that, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday. he said.
The shaky three-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran still appears to be valid, despite accusations of violations by both countries.
Trump did not provide detailed information about the shortcomings seen in the latest proposal.
“They want things I can’t accept,” he said.
The president said negotiations continued by phone after Trump’s envoys canceled their trip to Pakistan last week. He expressed disappointment with Iran’s leadership, describing it as fragmented.
“This is very disjointed leadership,” he said.
“They all want to make a deal, but they’re all screwed.”
Although the ceasefire has largely stopped conflicts in Iran, the United States and Iran remain deadlocked over the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of world trade passes in peacetime.
The US Navy blockade, which prevents Iranian tankers from sailing, is shaking the Iranian economy. The world economy is also under pressure as Iran maintains its control over the strait.
Trump this week publicly unveiled a new plan to reopen the critical chokepoint that America’s Gulf allies use to export oil and gas.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi held a series of phone calls on Friday with most of his regional counterparts, including Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Azerbaijan, to brief them on his country’s latest initiatives to end the war, according to his social media account.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also spoke by phone with Araqchi on Friday. Kallas’ office said in a statement that the two discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and long-term security arrangements. Kallas is also in contact with the EU’s partners in the Gulf.
Pakistani officials said efforts to ease tensions between Iran and the United States are continuing. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that a response from Iran was still awaited.
Meanwhile, Iran’s detained Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi was urgently transferred from prison to a hospital in northwestern Iran after her health condition “catastrophically deteriorated”, her foundation said on Friday.
The Narges Mohammadi Foundation said the Nobel Prize winner suffered two complete blackouts and a serious heart attack. He was believed to have suffered a heart attack in late March, according to testimony from his lawyers who visited him a few days after the incident.
The trust said his transfer to the hospital followed “140 days of systematic medical neglect” since his arrest on December 12.
Earlier this week, Trump told Axios that he rejected Iran’s offer to reopen the strait in exchange for the U.S. Navy lifting its blockade of Iranian ports.
Two regional officials said earlier this week that Iran’s proposal would push talks on the country’s nuclear program to a later date. Officials with knowledge of the proposal spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door negotiations between Iranian and Pakistani officials.
One of the main reasons Trump said he was going to war was to deny Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons.
According to officials, at least 3,375 people have died in Iran since the war started on February 28, and more than 2,600 people have died in Lebanon, where new clashes broke out between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah two days after the war started.
Additionally, 24 people lost their lives in Israel and more than 20 in the Gulf Arab countries. 17 Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon and 13 US soldiers in the region.
