Iran's FM Araghchi warns of a "doomsday war" but keeps diplomacy open after Trump rejects Tehran's seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as the conflict spreads into Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on NBC's Meet the Press that Tehran is prepared to fight a doomsday war with the United States if it comes to that, while insisting he has not abandoned diplomacy. He said Iran would keep pursuing talks so as not to miss any chance for peace, even as senior Iranian military figures continued to strike a defiant tone.
The comments followed a week of high-level exchanges on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where Iran had pitched a plan to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil and gas supply and has been largely shut since fighting broke out in February.
President Donald Trump rejected the proposal outright on Saturday, telling reporters at the White House that Iran wanted a quick deal because it was losing badly and that the terms on offer were not acceptable. Iran's plan reportedly called for the US to lift its naval blockade, waive sanctions on Iranian oil, release close to twelve billion dollars in frozen assets, and observe a wider regional ceasefire, in exchange for Iran reopening the strait within seven days and beginning broader talks.
US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said Washington doubted Iran's good faith, describing the offer as asking for everything up front on a promise to negotiate later. Trump has separately told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterms, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Araghchi maintained that Iran's conditions, tied to the memorandum of understanding both countries signed in June before it collapsed, have not changed and were fully communicated to Washington through Qatari and Omani mediators. He said Tehran was still waiting for an official response rather than reacting to Trump's public remarks alone.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS that trust needs to be rebuilt before talks can succeed, accusing the US of tearing up the earlier agreement when it resumed bombing. He said Iran remains open to implementing the deal in stages but wants assurance that Washington is not seeking regime change.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Sunday it had captured a US underwater drone in the strait and declared the waterway closed to unauthorised traffic, a claim US Central Command has not confirmed. The standoff has also widened regionally, with Iran-aligned Houthi forces expanding control along Yemen's Red Sea coast and threatening Saudi shipping routes, prompting some schools in Riyadh to shift to remote learning as a precaution.
Oil prices eased slightly last week as the diplomatic exchanges took place, though both US crude and Brent remain sharply higher for the year. Analysts say both Washington and Tehran currently believe time is working in their own favour, which may mean the standoff drags on rather than breaks in either direction soon.
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