Trump: Iran’s seven-day truce proposal ‘not acceptable’

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday rejected Iran’s latest proposal of a seven-day ceasefire made earlier in the week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly annual General Debate in New York, calling it unacceptable.

“I’ve rejected their deal,” the president told reporters.

“They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly. ... You don’t see that in the fake news,” he continued.

“But we’re winning tremendously; we have total control of the Hormuz Strait, massive amounts of oil coming out. ... Last night we had 29 ships come out. They want a make a deal, and I think that’s fine. I like making a deal too, but that deal would not be acceptable,” said Trump.

He said the blockade is choking Iran financially, “so they outsmarted themselves. They said, ‘Let’s close it, and cause a problem for the world.’ And then I came along. And we put up the greatest blockade ever in military history. It’s a wall of steel. ... And guess what? They don’t have any money now, because they wanted to close the strait and I said, that’s fine, we’re going to close it on you—but everybody else is able to use it.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday told reporters, “If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened and normal maritime passage restored within seven days,” according to the Associated Press.

The seven-day period would start when the Trump administration accepts the plan, Araghchi continued. “The choice now rests with the United States.”

Nevertheless, indirect talks between U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Araghchi were “positive and constructive,” Axios quoted a U.S. official as saying.

The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that Trump rejected Iran’s proposal. It said, moreover, that the president told aides he expects to resume attacks on the Islamic Republic after the Nov. 3 midterm elections, according to an unnamed U.S. official.

The U.S. president on Friday night reiterated his view on Truth Social that Iran must not have nuclear weapons, followed by another post showing a map of the Strait of Hormuz in which it is renamed, “Trump Strait.”

Tehran willing to dilute nuclear material, Iranian president says

Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command said that as of Sept. 25, its forces have redirected 122 commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz “to ensure strict compliance” with the naval blockade reimposed on Iran on July 14.

Also on Friday, a United Nations diplomat said that France is working on a draft Security Council resolution backing freedom of navigation in the choke point, according to AP.

The subject was discussed between Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as with Arab nations and Tehran, the diplomat said.

The proposed U.N. resolution would reaffirm the Law of the Sea and support peaceful initiatives aimed at securing safe transit through the strait, he added.

In an interview with Fox News, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States of instigating the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. He denied Tehran was in pursuit of nuclear bombs, and claimed his regime is willing to permit nuclear inspectors oversee Iran’s nuclear program.

“We said we’re willing to dilute them [enriched uranium material]. It’s not a big deal. We are willing to submit ourselves to verification,” Pezeshkian told Bret Baier of the network’s “Special Report” program.

“The problem is that America, instead of conducting dialogue, they descend into the arena by bombing us first, by blocking every pathway,” Pezeshkian claimed. “They attacked us. They assassinated and martyred our esteemed supreme leader, our scientists, our military commanders and government.”

Pezeshkian took to X on Friday to thank China’s President Xi Jinping’s call for a return to the June 17 Islamabad-brokered memorandum of understanding signed between Washington and Tehran.

“Iran shares this [diplomatic] approach and underscores the importance of returning to that understanding, honoring the commitments already agreed upon, and creating the conditions necessary for serious, substantive, and results-oriented negotiations to move forward,” said the Iranian president.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Saturday that Washington’s Operation Economic Outcast is producing results, citing the suspension of Mahan Air flights to Turkey and Oman, the UAE’s halt of flights by Iranian airlines and moves by major banks in Turkey and the UAE to stop transactions with Iran.

Bessent spoke while citing a Wall Street Journal report on the Treasury Department’s broader campaign to press governments and financial institutions to reduce ties with Tehran.

“These efforts are delivering results,” he said. “We will continue working together as there is more to be done to prevent Tehran from carrying out its terrorist agenda.”