By Susan Ferrechio (The Washington Times)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran will not back down on the terms of a seven-day ceasefire offer rejected by President Trump, “even if it comes to a doomsday war.”
Mr. Araghchi said he is waiting for the president, through U.S. mediators, to officially respond to Iran’s terms for a ceasefire. Mr. Trump flatly rejected the offer Saturday, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Sunday that Mr. Trump does not trust the Iranians to hold up their end of the deal.
“The president’s just not confident that the Iranians are coming in good faith and that we will truly negotiate the end of their nuclear program,” the ambassador said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Mr. Araghchi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian appeared on separate Sunday talk shows. Both officials said the United States cannot be trusted and is standing in the way of an accord to end the fighting.
“Every day, they increase the sanctions against us. Every day, they threaten us. Every day, they strike us. And they don’t honor what they have put in writing,” Mr. Pezeshkian said in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” recorded Thursday. “They don’t honor what they’ve signed. How can we believe that if we talk, the problem would get resolved?”
Iran offered to open the Strait of Hormuz, a major choke point for oil tankers, as part of the seven-day ceasefire deal.
The Iranian offer would first require the United States to release at least $12 billion in frozen assets, lift Iranian oil sanctions and end the blockade of Iranian ports, among other conditions.
Mr. Araghchi told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that when Iran’s conditions are met during the initial four- to five-day ramp-up, the strait would be reopened on Day 7, with broader negotiations for a permanent agreement resuming once the seven-day ceasefire concludes.
Iran made its offer days after Mr. Trump delivered an ultimatum during his United Nations General Assembly address, asking: “Will a deal be made with Iran, or do I annihilate the Islamic republic, and do it quickly?”
Iran was not backing down on the ceasefire demands, even in the face of Mr. Trump’s threat, Mr. Araghchi said.
“We stand firm in the face of any challenge, any aggression against us, even if it comes to a doomsday war,” Mr. Araghchi said. “At the same time, we are ready for diplomacy. And now there is a reasonable plan on the table. If they reject it with no reason, this is their fault.”
Mr. Araghchi said the Iranians “trust ourselves,” and not the United States.
“We are ready for diplomacy. We are ready for war at the same time. They had tested us in both cases; they tested us in their aggression twice, and they are welcome if they want to test us once again,” he said.
Mr. Waltz told CNN that the United States rejected the deal because Iran “was asking for everything up front, with a promise that they would then talk,” and was not trustworthy.
He said Tehran quickly violated the memorandum of understanding signed in June between the United States and Iran, and that Iran launched drone attacks against international shipping in the strait shortly after signing it.
The ambassador denounced Iran’s ceasefire offer in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“This was, I think, a pretty cynical attempt to put something on the table that they knew was unacceptable,” Mr. Waltz said.
Mr. Trump first rejected the deal Saturday in remarks to reporters.
“They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly. … We’re winning tremendously,” the president said. “They want to make a deal, and I think that’s fine. I like making a deal too, but that deal would not be acceptable. … What they want to do is immediately open the Hormuz Strait. You know why? Because they’re dying. You know why they’re dying? Because they have no money coming in.”
Iran will not be able to sell oil to China thanks to the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and will have nothing left to trade, “probably in the next two weeks,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday.
“There are only 15 million more barrels of Iranian oil on the water; then Iran will have nothing left to trade for anything,” Mr. Bessent said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “I believe they are feeling the pressure here, and that’s why they want a deal.”
Mr. Bessent said Iran is seeking a ceasefire deal because “they are on their knees,” economically, amid U.S. sanctions. He also noted that the Trump administration’s move last week deprived countries of access to the U.S. dollar if they service or fuel Iranian airliners.
Mr. Trump continues to threaten military action against Iran.
Mr. Waltz would not confirm a report in The Wall Street Journal that Mr. Trump would resume military strikes on Iran after the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Mr. Waltz pointed to Mr. Trump’s address Tuesday at the United Nations, in which the president said the midterm elections, which threaten to put congressional Republicans back in the minority, were not influencing his negotiations with the Iranians for a ceasefire deal.
“What I can tell you is the president will leave all options on the table to ensure the world is safe from Iran holding the world hostage with a nuclear weapon, No. 1. And No. 2, he was quite clear in his speech before the U.N. that politics have nothing to do with this,” Mr. Waltz said.
This article was made available to WMAL via The Washington Times.
