President Donald Trump has rejected Tehran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt regional fighting within seven days and has told aides he expects U.S. bombing of Iran to resume after the November elections, according to U.S. officials cited by The Wall Street Journal.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s latest proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and privately told aides he expects U.S. bombing of Iran to resume after the November midterm elections, according to a Friday report that raises the prospect of renewed large-scale hostilities if diplomacy fails.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials, that Trump turned down Tehran’s offer and remains skeptical that Iran would satisfy American demands. The newspaper said the president has told aides he anticipates another bombing campaign after the elections.
Iran, however, was still publicly awaiting an official U.S. response Saturday. Reuters reported that Tehran had transmitted the proposal through Qatari mediators, while a U.S. official previously characterized indirect discussions as “positive and constructive.”
The difference leaves the immediate diplomatic status uncertain: U.S. officials cited by the Journal say Trump has rejected the offer, while Iranian officials say Washington has not formally communicated a final answer.
Tehran’s proposal would create a seven-day timetable for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and halting fighting across the region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the arrangement would require Washington to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waive sanctions restricting Iranian oil sales, release frozen Iranian funds and observe a ceasefire encompassing other fronts, including Lebanon.
If Washington agreed, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the seven-day period and move into broader negotiations that could include its nuclear program.
Araghchi said Thursday that the offer had already been delivered to the United States through intermediaries and could begin once Washington accepted the terms.
The latest proposal largely revives conditions contained in an earlier U.S.-Iran understanding reached in June but attempts to move much faster toward negotiations.
The previous agreement was intended to halt fighting and lead toward nuclear talks but collapsed within days. Under the new proposal, Tehran is seeking to compress the timeline and connect the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz directly to U.S. concessions on sanctions, frozen assets and military pressure.
The diplomatic push followed the first indirect U.S.-Iran talks in months during this week’s United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York.
U.S. and Iranian representatives held approximately three hours of indirect discussions Tuesday through mediators, according to U.S. officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said the talks were good and that Washington remained open to further contacts, although they did not produce a breakthrough.
The negotiations reportedly involved U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, communicating with Araghchi through Qatari mediation.
Separate reporting Thursday indicated that negotiators were exploring a phased arrangement in which Iran would restore passage through the Strait of Hormuz while the United States eased its economic blockade.
Iranian officials have continued pressing for an agreement before American voters go to the polls in November.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said this week that Tehran does not want the war to continue and placed responsibility for deciding whether to end it on Washington.
“But we do not wish to continue. It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not,” Pezeshkian said in an interview aired Thursday.
Araghchi has likewise presented reopening Hormuz as an immediate incentive for reaching an agreement.
“If there is seriousness on the US side to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is now prepared,” Araghchi said Friday. He said acceptance by Washington could lead to wider negotiations “on mutually agreed subjects.”
Trump has simultaneously indicated that diplomacy remains possible while repeatedly warning that military escalation is also an option.
During his appearance at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said he faced a major decision over Iran and warned that the United States could “annihilate” the country if no agreement were reached, while also suggesting that a deal might be possible.
Trump has previously said he expects the conflict could be resolved after the midterm elections.
The Journal’s report goes further by indicating that the president privately expects the alternative — another bombing campaign — once the election is over.
That possibility has also circulated among administration officials. Previous reporting indicated some U.S. officials believed Trump could return to major combat operations following the midterms if negotiations with Tehran failed, while Trump had declined to commit publicly to whether such a decision would come before or after Election Day.
The dispute over the Strait of Hormuz has become central to both the military conflict and attempts to negotiate its end.
The narrow waterway is one of the world’s most important routes for oil and other energy shipments. Seven months of fighting and restrictions on traffic have disrupted global energy flows, while the U.S. military has been assisting commercial vessels attempting to navigate the strait.
Iran controls the waterway alongside Oman and has used restrictions on shipping as leverage during the conflict.
Tehran’s proposal would provide Washington with a path toward restoring normal commercial traffic while giving Iran relief from measures that have sharply constrained oil exports and damaged its economy.
The stakes extend beyond the strait.
Iran’s plan calls for hostilities to stop on multiple fronts, including Lebanon, where Iranian-backed Hezbollah has fought Israeli forces. Iranian-aligned forces elsewhere in the region have also expanded the conflict, while Houthi attacks originating from Yemen have placed additional pressure on Saudi Arabia and Red Sea shipping.
The war began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and has since alternated between periods of reduced fighting and renewed strikes. Thousands have been killed, Iran’s conventional military capabilities have been degraded and its economy has sustained additional damage.
Nuclear negotiations remain another major obstacle.
Trump has said Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon. Tehran denies seeking one and maintains that it has the right to peaceful nuclear technology and uranium enrichment.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters Saturday that Tehran would not surrender its claimed nuclear rights even if Washington accepted the seven-day peace proposal, including its position on enriching uranium and retaining its stock of highly enriched material.
That leaves the two governments confronting both an immediate question over whether to stop the fighting and a longer-running dispute over what a future nuclear agreement would require.
Iran’s proposal offers a compressed route toward a ceasefire, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and restarting negotiations. The Journal’s reporting, however, indicates Trump has decided the terms are insufficient and is preparing for the possibility that the pause in major U.S. strikes will end after the midterm elections.
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