The latest attempt to halt the Iran war ran into fast resistance from the White House on Sunday, after Iran sent its reply to a U.S. proposal through Pakistani mediators, and President Donald Trump dismissed it in a social media post as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”. Iranian state television reported that Tehran framed the American offer as equivalent to surrender and instead presented its own conditions—ranging from war reparations and sanctions relief to Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz. The rejection further complicated efforts to resolve the standoff in the Persian Gulf that has disrupted shipping and contributed to higher energy prices.
Washington’s most recent proposal, according to the Associated Press report, addressed a package that would end the war, reopen the strait, and roll back Iran’s nuclear program. Trump rejected Iran’s response without providing any details on what aspects of Tehran’s reply he found unacceptable. In an earlier post, Trump accused Iran of “playing games” with the United States for nearly 50 years and added: “They will be laughing no longer!” The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, previously told ABC that Washington was giving diplomacy “every chance we possibly can before going back to hostilities.”
Iran’s position, as reported through Iranian state television, was that the U.S. terms did not match what Tehran said it needs to accept. The report said Iran insisted on “war reparations by the U.S., full Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, an end to sanctions, and the release of seized Iranian assets.” Iran’s diplomatic posture also arrived as the report described leadership change and internal military direction: the broadcaster said Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard publicly since the war began, “issued new and decisive directives for the continuation of operations and the powerful confrontation with the enemies” while meeting with the head of the joint military command.
The report also said the ceasefire remained fragile amid renewed incidents in and around the Gulf. It described a drone strike that ignited a small fire on a ship off Qatar and as the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait reported drones entering their airspace. The UAE said it shot down two drones and blamed Iran, with no casualties reported and no immediate claim of responsibility. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called the ship attack a “dangerous and unacceptable escalation that threatens the security and safety of maritime trade routes and vital supplies in the region,” and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center did not provide details about the ship’s owner or origin.
In Kuwait, the report cited Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al Otaibi of the defense ministry as saying forces responded to drones without saying where they came from. The Associated Press report also said Iran and armed allied groups, including the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group, have used drones to carry out hundreds of strikes since the war began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28. The episode came amid broader concerns about the security of commercial traffic through a corridor vital to global oil, natural gas, and fertilizer flows.
On the nuclear front, Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran does not accept an agreement tied to reopening the strait and rolling back its nuclear program. The report said Iran has largely blocked the strategic waterway since the war began, while the U.S. military has blockaded Iranian ports since April 13, turning back 61 commercial vessels and disabling four. It said that on Friday the U.S. struck two Iranian oil tankers it described as trying to breach the blockade, and that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy said any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “heavy assault” on U.S. bases in the region and enemy ships.
The report added that an interview posted late Saturday by an Iranian military spokesperson said forces were on “full readiness” to protect sites where uranium is stored. It cited the U.N. nuclear agency as saying Iran has more than 440 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60% purity, a level described as a short, technical step from weapons grade. The Associated Press report also included language from Brig. Gen. Akrami Nia, who told IRNA that officials considered it possible Iran might intend to “steal” the uranium through infiltration operations or “heli-borne operations.”
Regional diplomacy continued alongside the militarized posture. The report said Netanyahu, in a CBS interview that aired Sunday, said the war was not over because the enriched uranium needs to be removed from Iran, adding that Trump told him: “I want to go in there,” and that he thinks it can be done physically. The report also said Russian President Vladimir Putin told Saturday that Moscow’s proposal to take enriched uranium from Iran to help negotiate a settlement remains on the table, and it noted that Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely largely at its Isfahan nuclear complex.
Other governments and proposals also surfaced in the report’s account of next steps. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, warned against a planned French-British effort to support maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz after hostilities end, saying that the presence of French and British vessels—or any other country—would be met with a “decisive and immediate response” if the cooperation involved what he described as illegal U.S. actions. French President Emmanuel Macron said any mission would not be a military deployment but an international effort to secure shipping once conditions allow.
As the report described, several ship attacks have occurred over the past week and a U.S. effort to “guide” ships through the strait was quickly paused. It also said South Korea announced initial findings from an investigation into an explosion and fire on the South Korea-operated vessel HMM NAMU, where officials said two unidentified objects struck the ship about one minute apart while it was anchored in the strait; the officials said they have not determined who was responsible.
The Associated Press report also described political and diplomatic dispute involving Israel and the U.S. It said Netanyahu denied New York Times reporting that he told Trump to start the Iran war by describing it as leading to regime change. In the CBS interview, Netanyahu said: “We both agreed, you know, that there was both uncertainty and risk involved,” and he added: “And I remember that we — I said and he said — that the danger, there’s danger in action, in taking action, but there’s greater danger in not taking action.” He also denied telling Trump that action would weaken Iran so it could not choke off the strait, saying the “problem” of the corridor “was understood as the fighting went on,” and he said: “I don’t claim the perfect foresight.”
Netanyahu’s remarks in the CBS interview also addressed U.S. military aid. The report said Netanyahu said he wants to “draw down to zero” the military aid provided by the U.S., which he said now stands at $3.8 billion per year. It added that Israel is a leading recipient of U.S. military aid and that the war in Gaza has drawn increased scrutiny as American public support for Israel declines. The CBS interview, as reflected in the report, described Netanyahu offering a timeline, saying he wants to see the aid cut off over the next decade.