‘It is up to President Trump to choose,’ Araghchi tells NBC
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that President Trump’s rejection of a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz had not been communicated to Tehran through Qatari mediators, even as he said Iran was ready for renewed conflict.
Iran last week offered to reopen the vital waterway within seven days via mediator Qatar on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. “I rejected their deal,” Trump said Saturday. “They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly.” Araghchi told NBC News on Sunday that the rejection had not been delivered to Iran through mediators.
Araghchi confirmed Iran’s willingness to resume fighting if the Trump administration chose that path. “We are fully prepared for the war to be resumed,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press when asked about a Wall Street Journal report that Trump could restart bombing Iran after the U.S. midterm elections in November. “We stand firm in the face of any new aggression, even if it comes to a doomsday war.” He added, “At the same time, we stand ready for diplomacy. It is up to President Trump to choose.”
Araghchi said the conditions the United States set were not new and matched what Iran had agreed to in a June memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran that detailed plans for a ceasefire. The pact collapsed days later after new strikes, he said.
He reiterated Iran’s demands for reopening the strait as part of a deal to end the war. “We want our monies, our assets, which are illegally frozen, to be released,” Araghchi said. “We want to be able to sell our oil.”
The foreign minister said Iran was prepared for renewed conflict if the Trump administration chose that path, leaving the next move to the U.S. president. “It is up to President Trump to choose,” Araghchi said.