Iran: 'Ball in US court' whether to sign deal or resume war

Trump reviews new proposal from Tehran, warns there’s a ‘possibility’ of renewed fighting

Senior Iranian officer says war with US ‘likely’ as CENTCOM chief arrives in region to meet with troops stationed in the Arabian Sea; Netanyahu to convene security cabinet Sunday

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was going to review a new Iranian peace proposal but cast doubt over its prospects, as a senior military officer in Tehran indicated renewed fighting was “likely.”

The dour outlook came after Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies said Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan. Details included ending the conflict on all fronts and enacting a new framework for the crucial Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim said.

“I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

In a brief interview with reporters in West Palm Beach, Florida, he declined to specify what could trigger new military action against the Islamic Republic.

“If they misbehave, if they do something bad, but right now, we’ll see,” he said. “But it’s a possibility that could happen, certainly.”

Iran’s latest 14-point proposal was said by Iranian media to include the withdrawal of US forces from areas surrounding Iran, lifting the blockade, releasing Iran’s frozen assets, payment of compensation, lifting sanctions and ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, as well as a new control mechanism for the strait.

It was delivered via mediator Pakistan after a previous draft submitted on Thursday was rejected by Trump, who said he was “not satisfied” with its contents.

The war, launched by the United States and Israel in late February, has been on hold since April 8, with one failed round of peace talks having taken place in Pakistan.

“At this moment I’m not satisfied with what they’re offering,” Trump told reporters of Iran’s Thursday proposal, blaming stalled talks on “tremendous discord” within Iran’s leadership.

“Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever — or do we want to try and make a deal?” he added, saying he would “prefer not” to take the first option “on a human basis.”

On Saturday morning, Mohammad Jafar Asadi, a senior figure in the Iranian military’s central command, said “a renewed conflict between Iran and the United States is likely,” in quotes published by Iran’s Fars news agency.

“Evidence has shown that the United States is not committed to any promises or agreements,” he added.

Amid the heightened rhetoric from both sides, US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper arrived in the Middle East to meet with troops aboard the USS Tripoli, an assault ship stationed in the Arabian Sea.

Cooper arrived in the region after briefing Trump on Thursday on Washington’s various military options against Iran.

Iran’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that it was up to the US whether to pursue a negotiated deal or return to open war, but that Tehran was ready for either outcome.

“Now the ball is in the United States’ court to choose the path of diplomacy or the continuation of a confrontational approach,” deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi told diplomats in Tehran, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

“Iran, with the aim of securing its national interests and security, is prepared for both paths,” he said.

Israel, which launched the military campaign against Iran jointly with the US six weeks ago, is not represented at the talks. Host Pakistan has no diplomatic ties with Israel and does not recognize its sovereignty.

The ceasefire declared by Trump last month came with core declared goals of the war unfulfilled, including ensuring that Iran does not attain nuclear weapons, destroying its missile program, and creating the conditions for the Iranian public to overthrow the regime.

Reports in recent days have suggested that Israeli officials are bracing for the possibility that negotiations between the US and Iran could collapse as early as the start of next week.

To prepare for this possibility, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet on Sunday, the office of a cabinet member told The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu last met with the small circle of senior ministers on Wednesday, including Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and Shas chairman Aryeh Deri.

‘Like pirates’

Trump on Friday said the US Navy was acting “like pirates” in carrying out Washington’s naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Trump made the comments while describing the seizure by US forces of a ship a few days ago.

“We took over the ship, we took over the cargo, we took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump said in remarks on Friday evening. “We’re like pirates. We’re sort of like pirates but we are not playing games.”

Some of Tehran’s vessels have been seized by the US after leaving Iranian ports, along with sanctioned container ships and Iranian tankers in Asian waters.

The Pentagon estimates Iran has lost $4.8 billion in oil revenue due to the US Navy’s blockade of its ports, the Axios news site reported on Friday, citing unnamed Pentagon officials.

In addition to the vessels that have been seized, 31 tankers carrying 53 million barrels of Iranian oil are now “stuck in the Gulf,” according to the officials.

Some ships are sailing “a costlier and longer route to deliver oil to China for fear of US maritime interdiction,” the officials told Axios.

The US imposed its blockade on Iranian ports amid the truce as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a ceasefire to permanently end the war.

The vice speaker of Iran’s parliament, meanwhile, said Tehran would not “relinquish our rights in the Strait of Hormuz, and the movement of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz will not be the same as before.”

Ali Nikzad added that under legislation before parliament for managing the waterway, 30 percent of tolls collected would go toward military infrastructure, with the rest earmarked for “economic development.”

“Managing the Strait of Hormuz is more important than acquiring nuclear weapons,” he said.

Iran said last month that it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon, but then reimposed it when the US refused to lift its blockade until a permanent agreement to end the war with the US was reached.

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Friday that his country had “never shied away from negotiations,” but would not accept the “imposition” of peace terms.

The White House has declined to provide details on the latest Iranian proposal, but news site Axios reported that US envoy Steve Witkoff had submitted amendments to a previous one putting Tehran’s nuclear program back on the negotiating table.

The changes reportedly include demands that Iran not move enriched uranium from bombed sites nor resume activity there during talks.

Iran’s mission to the UN pointed to the United States’ massive nuclear arsenal, accusing it of “hypocritical behavior” toward Iran’s own atomic program.

It went on to insist there was no legal “restriction on the level of uranium enrichment, so long as it is conducted under the IAEA’s supervision, as was the case with Iran.”

Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities.