President says interference in strait will be met forcefully

Trump: Latest Iran terms unacceptable; US on Monday to start guiding ships out of Hormuz

Regime’s latest proposal would end the fighting in Iran and Lebanon, see Strait of Hormuz open within a month as US lifts blockade; defers nuclear issue but said to float 15-year freeze on enrichment

US President Donald Trump on Sunday rejected Iran’s latest proposal to end its war with the US and Israel, calling it unacceptable.

The 14-point proposal reportedly includes multiple stages of negotiations, with the sides first bringing the fighting to a close and opening the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days. The US and Iran would only later begin talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, according to reports on the Iranian terms. The offer also reportedly floats an up to 15-year freeze on nuclear enrichment, followed by curbs on the program.

“It’s not acceptable to me. I’ve studied it, I’ve studied everything – it’s not acceptable,” Trump told the Kan public broadcaster. On Saturday, Trump had indicated that he was examining the proposal but was likely to reject it, saying Iran had yet to pay “a big enough price.”

The Iranian proposal, submitted on Thursday, is the latest draft agreement to be exchanged between Iran and the US since a ceasefire took effect on April 8, halting a war that began at the end of February. Iran said on Sunday that the US had responded to the proposal via Pakistan and that it was reviewing the response.

“At this stage, we do not have nuclear negotiations,” an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said, according to state media.

Meanwhile, Trump said the United States would on Monday morning begin an effort to “guide” stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said that countries have reached out to the US requesting assistance in securing the safe passage of their ships currently “locked up” in the strait.

“They are merely neutral and innocent bystanders! For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these countries that we will guide their ships safely out of these restricted waterways,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, branding the initiative “Project Freedom” and asserting it was a “humanitarian gesture.”

“Many of these ships are running low on food, and everything else necessary for largescale crews to stay on board in a healthy and sanitary manner,” he said. “If, in any way, this humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”

Bellicose rhetoric from both sides continued through the day.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence arm said, “Trump must choose between ‘an impossible operation or a bad deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran,’” according to Iranian state television. It cited what it described as a “shift in tone” from China, Russia, and Europe toward Washington as well as what it called an Iranian “deadline” over the US naval blockade.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier Sunday that the US was “suffocating” Iran’s leadership through the “economic blockade” launched alongside the US-Israeli military offensive.

“We are suffocating the regime, and they are not able to pay their soldiers. This is a real economic blockade, and it is in all parts of government — all hands on deck,” he told Fox News.

Iran suggests Hormuz to open, US blockade to end in month

According to reports on the Iranian proposal, its first stage would last 30 days and would see the sides negotiate a permanent end to the war and a withdrawal of the American force buildup from the area around Iran.

That cessation of hostilities would also end the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group. A ceasefire in that conflict took effect on April 17, but it has since largely unraveled.

Iran would gradually open the Strait of Hormuz, a key pathway for the global oil supply, which it has blocked since the beginning of the war, and would work to clear mines in the waterway. The extended closure has thrown energy markets into turmoil and had ripple effects across the global economy.

The US would likewise end its blockade of Iranian ports. According to Al Jazeera, an international body would be set up to ensure that the conflict does not resume. The proposal also demands reparations for the damage Iran suffered during the war.

Israel, which launched the military campaign against Iran jointly with the US, has not been represented in the US-Iran talks.

Following that first stage, the US and Iran would enter talks on Iran’s nuclear program. According to Hebrew media reports, the plan floats an up to 15-year pause to all uranium enrichment, after which Iran would be able to enrich uranium to 3.6%, short of the level needed to create a nuclear weapon.

The sides would also discuss what would happen to Iran’s stockpile of more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, and would come to an agreement regarding lifting sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Iran’s proposal to delay the nuclear talks appears to contradict Washington’s repeated demand that Iran give up its enriched uranium stockpile as a condition to end the war.

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.

A later stage of the talks would reportedly discuss what Iran reportedly calls a “strategic dialogue” with countries in the region. The US has sought to discuss Iran’s support for terror proxies as part of the negotiations.

Germany demands Iran open strait

Maritime tensions continued on Sunday. A bulk carrier reported being attacked by multiple small craft while transiting north about 11 nautical miles west of Iran’s Sirik today, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said. It added that all crew were safe and no environmental impact was reported.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul demanded that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz and give up its nuclear weapons program in a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi.

“I emphasized that Germany supports a negotiated solution,” Wadephul wrote in a post on X about the call on Sunday.

“As a close US ally, we share the same goal: Iran must completely and verifiably renounce nuclear weapons and immediately open the Strait of Hormuz, as also demanded” by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he wrote.

In recent days, Wadephul and other German officials have been trying to ease a spat between Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Merz said on April 27 that Iran was “humiliating” the US at the negotiating table, which provoked a series of angry responses from Washington.

The US announced that 5,000 troops would be moved from US military bases in Germany, and Trump also announced that US tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union would jump from 15% to 25% in the coming days.

On Sunday, Merz said the United States is central to the NATO alliance despite differences in opinion, and downplayed the tensions with Trump.

“I remain convinced that the Americans are the most important partner for us in the North Atlantic Alliance,” Merz told public broadcaster ARD in an interview to be televised later on Sunday.

Asked whether the troop drawdown had anything to do with a spat between the two leaders over Trump’s strategy in Iran, Merz said, “There is no connection.”