Daijiworld Media Network - New York

New York, Sep 27: Iran on Sunday said only diplomacy could resolve its conflict with the United States and Israel, after US President Donald Trump said he had rejected an Iranian proposal linked to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the fighting.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran's conditions for reopening the strategic waterway remained unchanged and that a negotiated solution was necessary to break the deadlock.

"Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met," Araqchi said in a social media post. "Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock."

Iran announced its peace proposal last week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying it had been conveyed to the United States through Qatari mediators.

Trump, however, said on Saturday that he had rejected the proposal, arguing that Iran was seeking an immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz because it was under severe pressure.

"They want to make a deal to open the Hormuz Strait immediately because they're losing so badly," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Araqchi said that despite Trump's public remarks, mediators involved in discussions between Tehran and Washington had not officially communicated a US rejection of the Iranian proposal.

"We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive views to us, and we will make a decision based on them," he said.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump had rejected the Iranian proposal, citing unnamed US officials. The report said Trump was privately sceptical that Iran would meet his demands and had told aides that he considered a renewed bombing campaign likely after the November US midterm elections.

A US official had earlier described discussions with Iran through mediators as "positive and constructive".

The conflict has severely disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil supplies, and has affected energy markets and the wider global economy. The United States has imposed an economic blockade on Iran as part of efforts to pressure Tehran over attacks on vessels in the waterway, while Trump has repeatedly said the US controls the strait.

Iran has also held discussions with Saudi Arabia over the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting the wider regional implications of the conflict.

Araqchi told reporters at the United Nations on Friday that Iran's proposed agreement would begin a seven-day countdown towards reopening the strait and would involve a pause in regional fighting.

"If there is seriousness on the US side to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is now prepared," Araqchi said, adding that broader negotiations could begin on mutually agreed issues if Washington accepted the proposal.

Those talks could potentially include Iran's nuclear programme. Trump has said Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon, while a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran would not compromise on its nuclear programme even if Washington accepted the peace proposal.

The official said Iran would make no concessions on what it considers its rights, including uranium enrichment or the shipment of highly enriched uranium out of the country.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking to CBS programme "Face the Nation", said Tehran was prepared to negotiate on its nuclear programme and other issues but would not accept what he described as "bullying or coercion".

"Iran is not seeking war, but will defend itself against pressure, threats and attacks," Pezeshkian said, adding that Iran had already agreed that it should not develop nuclear weapons.

Previous diplomatic efforts have failed to end the conflict, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks. Since then, the fighting has alternated between periods of reduced hostilities and renewed strikes, killing thousands of people, weakening Iran's conventional military capabilities and worsening its economic difficulties.

Iran and its allies have retaliated across the region. Iranian forces have attacked US allies in the Gulf with drones and missiles, while Houthi forces in Yemen have targeted Saudi interests.

Yemen's Saudi-led coalition said early Saturday that it had intercepted two ballistic missiles and two drones launched by the Houthis towards Saudi Arabia.