President Trump said on Saturday that he was rejecting an Iranian plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said the deal "would not be acceptable," speaking to reporters as he was departing the White House, without giving further explanation. "I like making a deal too," he said.
"But, I'm not — that deal would not be acceptable." "They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they're losing so badly," Trump added. Iran made the proposal, which also called for resuming negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, at the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York this week. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters on Friday that Iran conveyed to the U.S. through Qatar a "concrete seven-day plan" to reopen the strait.
Iran initially closed the strait after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. The repeated closures have caused major disruptions to the world's oil supply. "If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened and normal maritime passage restored within seven days," Araghchi said on Friday.
"The choice now rests with the United States." The Iranian proposal is similar to a "memorandum of understanding" agreed upon by the U.S. and Iran back in June. It would have temporarily ended fighting and restarted ceasefire talks. The MoU gave Iran relief from a U.S. naval blockade.
The U.S. eased sanctions and freed up frozen Iranian assets. In return, Iran promised not to seek a nuclear weapon and said it would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The June agreement collapsed after disputes over the memo's vague wording, including language related to who would control the strait.
The U.S. and Iran resumed strikes soon after. "The actions that the United States should take are not new," Araghchi said. "They are all already in the MoU.
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