Trump rejects Iran's 7-day plan
Capitals – Agencies: U.S. President Donald Trump rejected a new Iranian proposal for a seven-day plan to cease hostilities and reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, while reports indicated that the U.S. president is leaning toward resuming airstrikes after the midterm elections. Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks with Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, after Tehran presented its conditions for ending the war and reopening the vital shipping lane. Speaking from the United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday, Araghchi said, “Iran has conveyed to the United States, via Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan. If the necessary conditions are met, the strait could be reopened and transit traffic could return to normal within seven days.” He added, “The ball is now in the United States’ court. Iran does not accept coercion, threats, or intimidation, and it will not relinquish its sovereign rights under pressure.”
Hours after his remarks, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had rejected the proposal, citing informed U.S. officials. The newspaper’s report noted that the U.S. president is skeptical of Tehran’s ability to meet his demands and believes that a resumption of the bombing campaign is likely after the midterm elections scheduled for November. Trump also posted on his Truth Social platform an image of a map showing the Strait of Hormuz circled, accompanied by the phrase “Trump Strait.”
In related developments, The Wall Street Journal reported that a senior U.S. Treasury Department official traveled across countries in the region and Europe, carrying a warning to Iran’s trading partners: they must choose between trading with Tehran or with Washington. The newspaper noted that the effects of this commercial pressure have begun to appear. It explained that in recent days, Iran has seen key regional air routes cut off from its airlines, and its main commercial bank has been barred from conducting transactions in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. These two measures add to the sanctions imposed on Iran for years and the naval blockade enforced by the U.S. military.
Jonathan Perk, the Treasury Department official, a former executive at the banking group Citigroup in London, said, “We are sensing a new urgency among our partners. They are taking this seriously.” The newspaper also quoted British lawyer Nigel Kushner, who has advised companies on Iran sanctions for two decades, as saying he has never seen pressure of this intensity on Iran’s banking and aviation sectors. He added, “The United States has achieved in weeks an impact that exceeds what was achieved by longer campaigns that began in 2010.”
