US president Donald Trump said that Iran’s latest response to his proposal to end the 10-week conflict with the US is “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE” as the two sides continue to maintain a fragile ceasefire.
“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives,’” he said in a social media post. “I don’t like it.”
Iran offered to transfer some of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to a third country, but rejected the idea of dismantling its nuclear facilities, the Wall Street Journal reported. Iran disputed the report, according to Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim.
Pakistan, which has been mediating talks over the war, forwarded the Iranian response to the US, a Pakistani official said.
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The Iranian response stresses the need for an end to the war on all fronts and the lifting of sanctions on Tehran, Tasnim news agency said on Sunday, citing an informed source.
The proposal emphasises the necessity of lifting sanctions by the US office of foreign assets control on Iranian oil sales during a 30-day period and ending the naval blockade on Iran, Tasnim added.
Tasnim also quoted the source as saying that Iran’s demands include “Iranian management of the Strait of Hormuz if certain commitments are undertaken by the US”. The source did not specify what those commitments would be.
Despite the month-old ceasefire in the conflict and after some 48 hours of relative calm, hostile drones were detected over several Gulf countries on Sunday, underlining the threat still facing the region.
Still, the QatarEnergy-operated carrier Al Kharaitiyat passed safely through the strait and was heading for Pakistan’s Port Qasim, according to data from shipping analytics firm Kpler, the first Qatari vessel carrying liquefied natural gas to cross the strait since the US and Israel started the war on February 28th.
With Trump due to visit China this week, there has been mounting pressure to draw a line under the war, which has ignited a global energy crisis and poses a growing threat to the world economy.
Tehran has largely blocked non-Iranian shipping through the narrow strait, which before the war carried one-fifth of the world’s oil supply and has emerged as one of the central pressure points in the war.
Addressing whether combat operations against Iran were over, Trump said in remarks aired earlier on Sunday: “They are defeated, but that doesn’t mean they’re done.”
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the war was not over because there was “more work to be done” to remove enriched uranium from Iran, dismantle enrichment sites and address Iran’s proxies and ballistic missile capabilities.
The best way to remove the enriched uranium would be through diplomacy, Netanyahu said in an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes, without ruling out removing it by force.
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post that Iran would “never bow down to the enemy” and would “defend national interests with strength”.
Despite diplomatic efforts to break a deadlock, the threat to shipping lanes and the economies of the region remained high.
On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said it intercepted two drones coming from Iran, while Qatar condemned a drone attack that hit a cargo ship coming from Abu Dhabi in its waters. Kuwait said its air defences had dealt with hostile drones that entered its airspace.
Recent days have seen the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the strait since a ceasefire began: the UAE came under renewed attack on Friday and sporadic clashes were reported between Iranian forces and US vessels in the strait.
Clashes have also continued in southern Lebanon between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hizbullah, despite a US-brokered ceasefire announced on April 16th.
Hostilities between Israel and Hizbullah reignited on March 2nd when the Lebanese group opened fire after Tehran came under US-Israeli attack. The latest talks between Israel and Lebanon are due to start in Washington on May 14th.
Though Washington imposed its own blockade on Iranian vessels last month, Tehran has taken its time before responding to calls to end a war that surveys show is unpopular with US voters facing ever-higher gasoline prices.
The US has also found little international support, with Nato allies refusing calls to send ships to open the strait without a full peace deal and an internationally mandated mission.
Britain, which has been working with France on a proposal to ensure safe transit through the strait once the situation stabilises, said on Saturday it was deploying a warship to the Middle East in preparation for such a mission, following a similar move by France.
Iran’s deputy foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on social media that any stationing of British, French or other warships around the Strait of Hormuz under the pretext of “protecting shipping” would be an escalation and would be met by force.
In response, French president Emmanuel Macron said France was standing ready to help the international mission, but “we have never envisaged a military deployment to re-open Hormuz”. – Reuters/Bloomberg
