By Menna AlaaElDin and Parisa Hafezi
CAIRO/UNITED NATIONS, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Iran on Saturday awaited an official US response to its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end fighting in the wider Middle East war after the Wall Street Journal reported that US President Donald Trump had rejected the deal.
Iran raised the diplomatic initiative at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying it had been transmitted to the Americans via Qatari mediators and could reopen the strategic waterway and put an end to hostilities in the region within seven days.
The Iranians also engaged their Saudi rivals regarding the strait, underscoring the stakes of a seven-month-old conflict that has disrupted oil flows through one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes and taken a toll on the global economy.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters at the United Nations on Friday the deal would trigger a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and 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.
If the US were to agree, the warring parties could start wider talks “on mutually agreed subjects,” Araqchi said.
That could potentially include discussions of Iran’s nuclear program. Trump has vowed that Tehran will never acquire a nuclear bomb, while a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran will show no flexibility over its nuclear program even if the United States accepts its peace deal.
Iran would grant no concessions over its rights, including enriching uranium or shipping its highly enriched uranium out of the country, the official said.
Even so, Iran had put forward a plan that would halt hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon. The plan in turn would require the United States to lift its blockade on Iranian ports, release Iran’s frozen funds, and waive its oil sanctions, Araqchi said.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, had previously called discussions through mediators “positive and constructive.”
But Trump was privately skeptical that Iran would meet his demands, the Journal report said, and he told his staff that he sees a renewed bombing campaign as likely.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the Journal report.
SAUDI ALLIES UNITE
Previous attempts at diplomacy have failed to end the war, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks.
Since then the war has alternated between pauses and renewed strikes, killing thousands while degrading Iran’s conventional forces and damaging Iran’s already ailing economy.
Iran and its allies have retaliated by extending the conflict throughout the region. Iran, which controls the strait along with Oman, has struck US allies in the Gulf with drones and missiles while its Houthi allies in Yemen have targeted Saudi interests. Iranian-aligned militias in Iraq were blamed for a pipeline attack that temporarily took more Saudi oil off the market. All the while, Iranian-backed Hezbollah has been engaged with Israeli forces in Lebanon.
Araqchi briefed his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan on the understanding between Iran and Oman regarding safe shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s foreign ministry said early Saturday.
The war’s widening toll has also united Saudi Arabia’s allies to shore up the kingdom’s defenses.
The Saudi-backed, internationally recognized Yemeni government has come under assault from Iran-linked Houthi fighters, with Houthi missiles striking inside the kingdom.
Yemen’s Saudi-led coalition said early Saturday it intercepted two drones launched by the Houthis towards the Saudi capital Riyadh in addition to intercepting a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward Khamis Mushait.
The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen and much of the north, have launched attacks against Saudi Arabia since declaring a naval blockade against Riyadh in July, with strikes targeting Saudi vessels in the Red Sea.
The attacks have targeted Saudi cities, energy infrastructure and shipping, adding to pressures on global oil supplies caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran and putting at risk the main alternative Red Sea route for Gulf exports while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked.
Defense officials of Turkey and Pakistan, both partners in a joint defense pact with Saudi Arabia, met in Riyadh on Friday to review the security situation and discuss intelligence cooperation, military coordination, and integrating forces, the Saudi defense ministry said in a statement.
The statement came a day after Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish foreign ministers met within the framework of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement.
The violence in Yemen has prompted a new humanitarian crisis, the United Nations children’s agency said on Friday, reporting a rise in acute malnutrition among children.
(Reporting by by Menna AlaaElDin in Cairo, Parisa Hafezi at the United Nations and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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