Trump rejects Iran's proposal on nuclear talks
The rejection follows weeks of New York talks that Tehran officials had described as entering a detailed, more positive phase
Published
Trump has rejected a proposal from Iran, according to the story as filed, breaking off a negotiating track that had been advancing for weeks.
Iran's president, Pezeshkian, says Tehran backs a return to the Islamabad understanding and asked for nothing more than its rights under international law. A senior Iranian official has said Tehran could return to a memorandum of understanding with Washington, and a separate senior Iranian source says the two sides had traded messages linking a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to sanctions relief. Sources in Tehran, cited by Al Jazeera's bureau chief in New York, described the New York talks as moving into a more detailed and increasingly positive technical phase, and Qatari experts joined those talks after Iran's delegation received US visas following an initial denial.
Iran has also denied that any US-Iran talks were taking place at all, calling reports of them "market management," according to Fars. An Iranian official has said the Strait of Hormuz will stay shut until Iran's conditions are met, and that Iran will hold no nuclear talks and make no concessions on its nuclear programme. A US official has said Washington is in a strong position and controls the Strait, and Centcom says it has redirected 122 vessels enforcing an Iran blockade.
Trump's rejection undoes that stretch of progress toward a settlement, reversing the momentum that had pushed oil futures lower on truce hopes. With Iran's leadership now describing its preconditions as non-negotiable, and Washington maintaining it controls the Strait of Hormuz and faces no time pressure, the near-term risk tilts back toward escalation and supply constraints, leaving markets more bearish on any resolution soon.