Donald Trump has dismissed an Iranian response to a US peace proposal as "...completely unacceptable", on a day when the month-long ceasefire showed signs of weakening, as drone strikes were reported across the region and Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the war "it wasn't over."
The Iranian counterproposal was passed to Washington through Pakistani intermediaries, The Guardian writes.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing an informed source, said on Sunday evening that Iran's proposed text for negotiations underlined the necessity of lifting US sanctions, ending the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after signing the initial understanding, and an immediate end to the war with guarantees against any renewed attack on the country, Sinjali reports.
The US had presented a peace proposal a week earlier, which was reported to consist of a one-page memorandum of understanding with 14 points that would reopen the strait, setting a framework for further talks on Iran's nuclear program.
The US parameters for the nuclear talks reportedly included a moratorium on Iranian nuclear enrichment for up to 20 years; the transfer abroad, possibly to the US, of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU), which can be used to make nuclear warheads; and the dismantling of Iranian nuclear facilities.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Iranian counterproposal suggested a shorter moratorium, exporting part of the HEU stockpile and diluting the rest, as well as refusing to accept dismantling the facilities.
Trump responded a little later by saying: "I just read the response from the so-called 'representatives' of Iran. I don't like it, totally unacceptable.".
Earlier in the day, Trump had posted a lengthy statement on his online platform, Truth Social, claiming that Iran "has been playing games with the United States and the rest of the world for 47 years", adding that Tehran "I won't laugh anymore."".
Trump was expected to speak with Netanyahu on Sunday. The Israeli prime minister had previously warned that the war would continue as long as Iran had HEU stockpiles.
"It's not over, because there is still enriched uranium nuclear material that needs to be removed from Iran. There are still enrichment sites that need to be dismantled."", he told CBS's 60 Minutes program, according to an excerpt released before its broadcast.
Asked how HEU should be removed, Netanyahu said: "Go in and take it out", adding that the best way would be to go into Iran to secure the fissile material as part of a deal. He said Donald Trump had told him he wanted “to enter there".
In a separate interview, Trump appeared to take a more relaxed stance on the HEU stockpiles, which the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, says are buried deep under mountains in central Iran. The US president suggested that for now, satellite surveillance was sufficient to ensure that no one had access to them.
Trump said on the Full Measure program: "We'll get to that in a moment... We've been monitoring it. I did something called the Space Force and they're monitoring it... If anyone gets close to the place, we'll know - and we'll blow them up."".
As he has done on many occasions since announcing the ceasefire a month ago, Trump said that US attacks on Iran could resume. He said the US could "go in for another two weeks and hit every single target. We have certain targets that we wanted and we've hit maybe 70% of them, but we also have other targets that we could have hit with great probability."".
"But even if we didn't do that, you know, these would just be the finishing touches."", He added.
Trump is under intense pressure to preserve the ceasefire and potentially reach a peace deal, ahead of a planned visit this week to China, which is pushing for an end to hostilities and the opening of the strait.
Two critical issues that will be at the center of any future nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran are the destruction of Iran’s 440 kg of HEU enriched to 60% purity – close to weapons-grade – and the suspension of uranium enrichment. In an interview with Iranian state media late Saturday, a military spokesman said the country’s forces were “full readiness"to protect the reserves."
"We considered it possible that they might have intended to steal it through infiltration operations or helicopter operations."", said Brigadier General Akrami Nia.
Trump has reportedly been presented with military options for capturing HEU, but the operation would have required a large number of troops and would have lasted for weeks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Moscow's proposal to take enriched uranium from Iran to help negotiate a solution remains on the table.
Iran was responding on Sunday to a US memorandum that was itself a response to an earlier Iranian proposal. It also envisioned lifting the parallel US and Iranian blockades of the strait, which have driven up oil prices and hampered the global economy, with an emphasis on lifting sanctions and releasing frozen Iranian assets.
The announcement of a new response from Tehran came on a day when the Pakistan-brokered ceasefire, which took effect on April 8, showed new signs of tension. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait reported drone intrusions into their airspace on Sunday, and a drone strike caused a small fire on a ship off the coast of Qatar.
Another drone attack was reported on a camp used by an Iranian Kurdish rebel group near Erbil in northeastern Iraq.
Qatar's defense ministry gave no details about the ship targeted on Sunday, other than that it had come from Abu Dhabi. The United Arab Emirates' defense ministry said it had shot down drones that entered its airspace and which it said were Iranian.
Qatar denounced the attack on a ship in its territorial waters as an "serious escalation". The country's Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, told Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, that using the strait as a tool to exert pressure would only deepen the crisis and that freedom of navigation should not be compromised.
Kuwait's defense ministry spokesman said its forces had dealt with drones that entered the country's airspace early Sunday, "in accordance with the established procedures", without attributing responsibility for the incursion.
Meanwhile, Iran's deputy foreign minister warned against a planned Franco-British effort aimed at supporting maritime security in the strait after hostilities have ended. French President Emmanuel Macron responded by saying it would not be a military deployment but an international mission to secure maritime transport when conditions permit.
The United Kingdom and France will host a multinational meeting of defense ministers on Tuesday on military plans to restore trade flows through the Strait, the British government said.
"Defense Secretary John Healey will co-chair a meeting of over 40 countries, along with his French counterpart, Minister Catherine Vautrin, for the first meeting of defense ministers of the multinational mission."", the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Hours earlier, Iran warned London and Paris against sending warships to the region.
Tensions have escalated under the ceasefire as the US and Iran have tried to assert control over the strait. On May 4, Trump launched what he called Project Freedom, which was supposed to provide a way out of the Gulf for hundreds of ships blocked by the war.
Iran, which closed the strait after the initial US-Israeli attack on February 28, responded with attacks on US naval vessels, merchant ships and oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates.
Trump canceled Project Freedom after 36 hours and only two US-flagged ships had passed through. Saudi Arabia had refused permission for US forces to use its bases and airspace for the operation.
Tehran has insisted that all ships passing through the strait coordinate with its armed forces and pay a $2 million (£1.5 million) toll. On Sunday, Iranian state media reported that a Panamanian-flagged ship bound for Brazil had been allowed to sail through the strait. The US military has been blockaded Iranian ports since April 13, saying it has turned back 61 merchant ships and seized four others.
Trump has said the current ceasefire also includes Lebanon and has told Israel to stop bombing Hezbollah targets there. Israel has scaled back its campaign but has continued to carry out attacks.
Lebanon's health ministry reported that 36 people had been killed and 74 wounded in Israeli strikes on Saturday. Among the casualties were several injured paramedics in southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had intercepted Hezbollah drones approaching its troops in the area.
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