U.S. President Donald Trump on Sept. 26 said he has rejected Iran’s latest proposal for an end to the conflict.
“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,” he told reporters at the White House.
The Iranians made the proposal on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York City earlier in the week through Qatari mediators.
“They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” Trump said. “But we’re winning tremendously.
“We have total control of the Hormuz Strait. Massive amounts of oil are coming out of the Hormuz Strait. Last night, we had 29 ships come out.”
Both sides have said they want to end hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but they are at loggerheads over how to handle Iran’s nuclear stockpile.
Trump also said the regime was feeling the pressure now that it has less money coming in because of the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
“So they outsmarted themselves,” he said.
After Trump rejected their plan, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran’s conditions are clear.
“Any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,“ Araghchi posted on Telegram. ”Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock.”
He told reporters at the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 24 that Tehran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin talks “on mutually agreed subjects” if the United States were to agree to lift its blockade on Iranian ports, release Iran’s frozen funds, and waive its oil sanctions.
Tehran said it would be prepared to engage in detailed negotiations over its nuclear program only after its conditions for reopening the strait are met.
That was still across the red line for the United States, which is seeking nuclear action first in exchange for lifting its blockade and agreeing to a wider ceasefire.
Both sides had agreed as such in a June 17 memorandum of understanding, outlining a 60-day period to negotiate the final details for peace.
The United States agreed to end its naval blockade and sanctions in exchange for Iran’s agreement not to develop or procure a nuclear weapon. Iran agreed to ensure the safe passage of vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz. However, there was no agreement reached on the details of how to handle Iran’s existing nuclear stockpile.
That memorandum of understanding expired in mid-August. Talks since have stalled over what will happen to Iran’s existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
One of the main U.S. demands is the complete destruction or removal of Iran’s enriched stockpile. Iran maintains that it has a right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sept. 24 that Tehran is willing to dilute its stockpile of uranium, which it says is enriched to 60 percent—a level of purity that is a technical step away from reaching the 90 percent threshold required to produce a nuclear weapon. In an interview with Fox News’s “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Pezeshkian again denied that Tehran seeks a nuclear weapon.
The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that Iran had 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent when Israel and the United States attacked Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025. How much of that survived is unclear.
U.N. inspectors have long been critical of the Iranian regime for denying them access to its nuclear facilities.
In his speech to the United Nations on Sept. 22, Trump said that he will never allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and that he expects the regime to agree to a deal shortly after the upcoming midterm election “because it doesn’t make sense for them not to.”
“They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election,” he said.
After the election, Trump said he will decide whether to allow the regime in Tehran to rebuild or to order it annihilated with “no chance of survival.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
