Iran has reportedly turned down a fresh cease-fire proposal delivered Thursday by Iraq’s prime minister on behalf of President Trump.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who had just returned from Washington after a White House visit and Oval Office meeting with Trump, carried the plan to Tehran and presented it to senior Iranian officials. They declined to engage with the proposal, the New York Times reported.
Details of the cease-fire offer remain uncertain. However, Iranian officials characterized it as the “only offer on the table” and a “temporary deal” that failed to settle the larger dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the report.
Among the Iranian leaders who met with al-Zaidi and the Iraqi delegation were President Masoud Pezeshkian, Tehran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Speaking on state-run television, Araghchi said al-Zaidi had relayed his “views and impressions” from his Washington visit, but he suggested that involving yet another mediator would not move the process forward.
“The problem is not passing messages,” Araghchi said, according to the Times. “The problem is America’s outlook, which is illogical, greedy and controlling.”
Iran’s reported rejection comes as US forces carried out airstrikes on Iran for a 13th consecutive night, while Trump considers ordering what he described as a “massive attack” aimed at forcing the regime back into negotiations.
“I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than anything we have ever had before. I am close to making a decision. We are fully prepared for it,” Trump told Israel’s Channel 12 on Thursday.
He added that Israel would join the US in the operation “in two minutes” if he asked, but clarified that “we don’t need anybody” to launch the potential escalation.
Meanwhile, US airstrikes Thursday targeted Iranian military command centers, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites and maritime capabilities “to further diminish the threat Iran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” according to US Central Command.
“The international waterway remains open for transit despite recent attacks from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the combatant command wrote on X. “Commercial vessels continue to freely navigate the strait with US military support.”
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
