US President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and told his aides that he expects the US to resume bombing Iran after the midterm elections scheduled for next November, according to US officials.
The Iranian proposal reportedly includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming negotiations on the nuclear program, in exchange for the United States lifting its naval blockade on Iranian ports, which has caused significant economic damage to Iran.
Trump publicly declares that Tehran is seeking to conclude an agreement after the midterm elections, which includes dismantling its nuclear program, but at the same time he privately doubts Iran’s willingness to meet his demands, and sees a resumption of the bombing campaign as a likely possibility.
Trump’s current stance suggests the conflict, which currently exists in a gray area between war and peace, could once again veer toward hostilities. However, the US president’s oscillation between pursuing diplomacy, ordering airstrikes, and tightening sanctions on Iran makes his position potentially fluid in the coming weeks, and it could also be influenced by the outcome of the midterm elections.
The scale of the strikes Trump is considering remains unclear. the president is hesitant to resume large-scale combat operations, partly because the United States wants to preserve its remaining munitions stockpile for other contingencies. Trump has previously announced large-scale attacks aimed at breaking the deadlock in US-Iranian negotiations, only to back down on some of his most escalatory threats.
During his speech to the United Nations General Assembly this week, Trump said that politics does not influence his position on the Iranian nuclear issue, stressing that the sole objective is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
A US official said that Washington and Tehran are still negotiating through intermediaries, including regional states, including on the nuclear program. He added that US-led efforts to ensure the continued passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, despite Iranian threats, have reduced the urgency for reaching an agreement.
According to people familiar with the negotiations, Qatar and other regional mediators worked to revive talks between Iran and the United States on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings. During a meeting in Qatar on Sunday, Iran proposed a seven-day ceasefire that could pave the way for an end to its attacks on shipping, in exchange for the United States lifting its sanctions.
The Iranian initiative includes lifting the US naval blockade, releasing some of Iran’s frozen assets, and lifting sanctions on Iranian oil exports, in exchange for Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz and starting negotiations on its nuclear program.
But officials familiar with the negotiations said the United States has informed Iran and the mediators that Trump does not intend to lift the naval blockade, while Washington believes that continued economic pressure will eventually force Tehran to sign an agreement on terms favorable to the United States and the Arab Gulf states.
The newspaper quoted Arab mediators as saying that Iranian diplomats had presented several proposals to end the war and acknowledged the worsening economic crisis in their country. However, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which has become the most powerful military and economic force in the country since the outbreak of the war in February, informed the mediators that it would not accept any new terms for an agreement and that it was prepared for a protracted war.
The Revolutionary Guard wants to return to terms closer to the initial agreement reached by Trump with Iran in June, which included easing sanctions on oil sales, providing access to frozen Iranian assets, and recognizing a role for Tehran in managing the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for reopening the shipping lane.
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