MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump calls Iran's response to his peace proposal “totally unacceptable”

Trump said on Truth Social that Iran had been “playing games” with the United States for 47 years and warned the country would “not be laughing any longer”

US President Donald Trump described Iran's response to Washington's latest proposal to end the war that has pitted the two countries against each other since 28 February as “totally unacceptable” on Sunday. “I have just read the response from Iran's so-called 'Representatives.' I don't like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Tehran submitted the counter-proposal through Pakistani mediation, according to Iranian state agencies IRNA and Tasnim. The document calls for the lifting of US Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions on Iranian oil sales for a thirty-day period, an end to the US naval blockade, the release of frozen assets, and war reparations. It also includes “Iranian management of the Strait of Hormuz if the United States makes certain commitments.” State media did not mention the nuclear program, one of Washington's central demands.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told Fox News that dismantling Iran's nuclear program is “a very clear red line” for the president. Separately, Trump said on Truth Social that Iran had been “playing games” with the United States for 47 years and warned the country would “not be laughing any longer.” Talks have stalled since the failure of negotiations held in Islamabad in early April. The United States maintains its blockade on Iranian ports; Iran restricts traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil passed before the war.

On Saturday, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met in Miami with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and Vice President JD Vance in an effort to unblock mediation. On Sunday, a Qatari LNG tanker crossed Hormuz for the first time since the start of the conflict, with Tehran's approval, in what was read as a confidence-building gesture.

Iran's deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, warned of a “firm and immediate” response to the deployment of British and French vessels in the region. London confirmed the dispatch of the destroyer HMS Dragon. French President Emmanuel Macron clarified that the operation would be an international maritime-security mission, not a military deployment.

Inside Iran, critical voices have begun to question the official strategy on Hormuz. Mohammad Ghaedí, a political scientist at George Washington University, warned of a “clear polarization” within Iranian society. Davoud Ranguí, vice president for imports at Iran's Chamber of Commerce, said: “We have no choice but to reopen the strait somehow.” Tehran's Prosecutor's Office has opened cases against journalist Abbas Abdi and academic Sadegh Zibakalam over critical statements.