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(Bloomberg) — US President Donald Trump said he will review Iran’s latest peace offer but wouldn’t rule out restarting strikes on Tehran’s military targets should the regime “misbehave.”
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Trump, speaking to reporters in Florida on Saturday, said he had been briefed on the “concept of the deal” offered by Iran, but moments later cast doubts that Iran’s latest offer would be satisfactory.
“I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years,” he said moments later in a post on Truth Social.
The US president has voiced frustration at the lack of progress on the peace negotiations, telling reporters on Friday that he is not satisfied with what Iran has proposed so far. Energy prices have soared because of the blockage of the vital Strait of Hormuz, fueling concerns in the White House that the Republicans could suffer a major defeat in November’s Midterm elections.
“We just had a conversation with Iran. Let’s see what happens,” he said at that time, adding that he would prefer not to restart hostilities in a war that began with US and Israeli strikes in late February. “But I would say that I am not happy.”
Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East, mainly in Iran and Lebanon.
Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran’s ready to continue diplomatic efforts if the Americans change their approach and avoid “excessive demands, threatening rhetoric, and provocative actions.”
The Islamic Republic’s military remains “fully vigilant,” Abbas Araghchi said.
The Strait of Hormuz — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally flows — lies at the heart of the stalemate. Iran insists the US must end a naval blockade on its ports before Tehran’s leaders are willing to reopen the waterway.
The White House says the blockade is working by squeezing Iran’s economy and choking off its oil exports. It hopes to force Iran into concessions by continuing the naval operation.
Already, the country has begun curbing production as its storage tanks fill up, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. Yet Tehran has decades of experience preparing for versions of this scenario. It is proactively reducing crude output to stay ahead of capacity limits rather than waiting for tanks to fill completely, according to a senior Iranian official, who asked not to be identified because the information is sensitive.
