US rejects Iran’s Strait of Hormuz reopening proposal

A senior US official on Sunday rejected Iran’s proposal for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, describing the offer as “cynical” and suggesting it was unlikely to gain acceptance from Washington.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi unveiled the truce proposal at the United Nations earlier in the week as part of efforts to ease tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Under the proposal, Iran wants the release of its frozen assets, the removal of sanctions on its oil exports and an end to the US naval blockade as conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

The strategic waterway is a major route for global energy supplies, with large volumes of oil and other energy products passing through it.

The US rejection casts further doubt on the prospects of an agreement to reopen the key shipping route under the terms proposed by Tehran.

“This was, I think, a pretty cynical attempt to put something on the table that they knew was unacceptable,” US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said on Sunday in an interview with NBC. “To ask for the release of the blockade, the sanctions, international sanctions, and access to billions in assets just to talk.”

US President Donald Trump rejected the deal on Saturday, stating that Iranian leaders wanted the deal because “they are losing so badly.”

“I think it’s kind of common sense that the president doesn’t have a lot of confidence this time after we just tried a few months ago, but at the end of the day, of course, the president this has to end in some type of arrangement,” Waltz said. “But he’s going to leave all options on the table to get there.”

Speaking on NBC shortly after, Araghchi denounced what he described as “old, unproved accusations” made by Waltz.

“We are ready to open the strait if certain things are done by the US and these certain things are not new, have not come from the space,” he said. “These are our rights that we want to be respected.”

Araghchi struck a pessimistic tone regarding the prospect of a deal.

“There is also always hope for diplomacy, but we have no reason, to be honest with you, we have no reason to come back to diplomacy and engage with this administration once again because of their behavior in the past two years,” he told NBC.

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