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Trump rejects Iran’s response to US peace proposal as ‘unacceptable’
President Donald Trump’s swift rejection of Iran’s response to a U.S. peace proposal sent oil prices surging higher on Monday amid concerns the 10-week-old conflict will drag on, keeping shipping through the Strait of Hormuz paralyzed.
Days after the U.S. floated an offer in the hopes of re-opening negotiations, Iran on Sunday released a response focused on ending the war on all fronts, especially Lebanon, where U.S. ally Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Tehran also included a demand for compensation for war damages and emphasized Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state TV said, Reuters reported.
It also called on the U.S. to end its naval blockade, guarantee no further attacks, lift sanctions and end a U.S. ban on Iranian oil sales, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said.
Within hours, Trump dismissed Iran’s proposal with a post on social media.
“I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, without giving further detail.
The U.S. had proposed an end to fighting before starting talks on more contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.
Oil prices jumped $3 a barrel on Monday following news of the continued stalemate that leaves the narrow Strait of Hormuz largely closed. Before the war the waterway carried one-fifth of the world’s oil supply and has emerged as one of the central pressure points in the war.
Surveys show the war is unpopular with U.S. voters facing sharply higher gasoline prices less than six months before nationwide elections that will determine whether Trump’s Republican party retains control of Congress.
The U.S. has also found little international support, with NATO allies refusing calls to send ships to open the Strait of Hormuz without a full peace deal and an internationally mandated mission.
It’s not clear what fresh diplomatic or military steps may be ahead.
Trump is expected to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday. With mounting pressure to draw a line under the war and the global energy crisis it has ignited, Iran is among topics Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to discuss.
Trump has been leaning on China to use its influence to push Tehran to make a deal with Washington.
Addressing whether combat operations against Iran were over, Trump said in remarks aired on Sunday: “They are defeated, but that doesn’t mean they’re done.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war was not over because there was “more work to be done” to remove enriched uranium from Iran, dismantle enrichment sites and address Iran’s proxies and ballistic missile capabilities.
The best way to remove the enriched uranium would be through diplomacy, Netanyahu said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” But he did not rule out removing it by force.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post that Iran would “never bow down to the enemy” and would “defend national interests with strength.”
Despite diplomatic efforts to break a deadlock, the threat to shipping lanes and the economies of the region remained high.
Recent days have seen the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the strait since a ceasefire began.
On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates said it intercepted two drones coming from Iran, while Qatar condemned a drone attack that hit a cargo ship coming from Abu Dhabi in its waters. Kuwait said its air defences had dealt with hostile drones that entered its airspace.
Clashes have also continued in southern Lebanon between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire announced on April 16.
An end to hostilities with Iran would not necessarily bring an end to the war in Lebanon, Netanyahu said in the “60 Minutes” interview, in which he also said Israeli planners had underestimated Iran’s ability to choke off traffic through the Hormuz Strait.
“It took a while for them to understand how big that risk is, which they understand now,” he said.
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US imposes sanctions on 13 tied to Iran weapons procurement
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”
The US government announced fresh sanctions on Tuesday against 13 individuals and entities, including some based in Russia, China, Hong Kong and Pakistan, saying they helped Iran procure weapons and components.
The sanctions announced by the Treasury and State departments are part of the Trump administration’s effort to isolate Iran economically and force it to negotiate an end to the war that began with a US-Israeli strike on Iran on February 28.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”
Treasury said the sanctions were aimed at degrading Tehran’s ability to reconstitute its weapons programs, while increasing the costs for those who supported its procurement efforts.
Those targeted in Tuesday’s sanctions announcements include:
Seyyed Asghar Alizadeh Tabatabai, a Beijing-based representative of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics agency, who Treasury said had coordinated the procurement of finished weapons systems and dual-use components in China on Iran’s behalf.
Iran-based Kavoshcom Asia R and D Group, which Treasury said had procured electronics including connectors for Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company.
Hong Kong-based EC Mojo Technology Co Limited, which Treasury said had provided electronic components in support of Kavoshcom’s procurement efforts, and EC Mojo’s China-based representative Li Fen.
Pakistan-based Waseem Pasha Tajammal, who serves as chairman of Cavalier Group, a privately owned defense company with locations in Pakistan and internationally.
Joint Stock Company Experimental Design Bureau Named After A.S. Yakovlev, a Russia-based aircraft manufacturer.
MG-Flot LLC, a Russia-based shipping company whose vessels transport weapons for the Russian government.
Saha Airlines, an Iran-based airline affiliated with the country’s air force.
Brett Erickson, managing principal with Obsidian Risk Advisors, said the latest sanctions action would do little to impede Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones in the Strait of Hormuz. “This is optics management for the Trump administration to claim ‘We’re hammering them,’ when the reality is we’re poking them with a toothpick,” he said.
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US, Iran separately talk with mediators in latest bid to end war
US officials separately spoke with mediators on Monday, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House, without giving further details.
US and Iranian officials spoke separately with mediators on Monday as part of a renewed effort to end seven months of war, according to officials of both countries, Reuters reported.
Any further talks are expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal that Iran presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.
The war began in late February with US and Israeli attacks on Iran, killing thousands of people over seven months and shocking global markets as vital waterways for oil remained choked. The US and Iran have twice previously agreed to ceasefires in mediated peace talks, in April and June. Those agreements quickly unraveled.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who remained in New York after attending the General Assembly, said Iran expected to receive the US response to its latest ceasefire proposals and its conditions for restoring passage of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, according to state news agency IRNA.
“If the Americans claim they are seeking an agreement or a peaceful solution, we have presented that solution,” Araqchi said.
US officials separately spoke with mediators on Monday, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House, without giving further details.
Iran’s seven-day plan envisages an end to all hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the unfreezing of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets, an end to sanctions on Iranian oil and the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports.
Iran would then allow the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for oil tankers, and the two sides would also resume talks on Iran’s nuclear program and Trump’s wish to seize or eliminate its highly enriched uranium, read the report.
Trump said on Saturday he had rejected Iran’s proposal, saying Iran wanted a swift agreement because of the crippling economic pressure it is under. However, he also told Axios on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in further talks this week.
Araqchi said on Sunday that mediators had not formally conveyed a US rejection, and that Iran was awaiting Washington’s definitive position before deciding its next steps.
“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” he said on Sunday, adding that only a negotiated solution could resolve the impasse.
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Floods, landslides kill 56 in India and 14 in Nepal
In India, the Central Water Commission said 30 river-monitoring stations across seven states indicated a “severe situation”.
Heavy rain and storms have triggered floods and landslides that killed 56 people in India, while in Nepal, 14 have died and another 11 are missing, with authorities there warning on Sunday that more flash floods are possible, Reuters reported.
India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh recorded 66.5 mm of rain between September 25 and the morning of September 27, compared with a normal 7.6 mm for the period, Hrishikesh Bhaskar Yashod, the state’s relief commissioner, said on Sunday.
Authorities are carrying out rescue operations in waterlogged areas and distributing relief, while officials have been told to assess crop damage and provide compensation.
In addition to the 56 deaths, 46 people have been injured and more than 1,000 houses have been damaged.
Nepali authorities warned of possible flash floods in 49 of the country’s 77 districts, with more than half facing high flood or flash-flood risks as water levels in major rivers and tributaries continued to rise.
Shanti Mahat, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, said Rasuwa and Nuwakot, areas hit by last month’s deadly floods that killed more than 1,450 people and left thousands still missing, should remain “alert” but were not currently considered high-risk areas.
Power supply has been completely disrupted in the Manang, Mustang, Myagdi and Baglung districts, with authorities working to restore electricity, energy ministry officials said.
Flooding of the Rahuganga River damaged the structure and transmission-line towers of a 40-megawatt hydropower project, Water Resources and Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said.
In India, the Central Water Commission said 30 river-monitoring stations across seven states indicated a “severe situation”.
Several major rivers, including the Ganga, Gandak, Kosi, Bagmati and Narmada, were above danger levels, read the report.
Floods and landslides also disrupted telecommunications in parts of Nepal after damage to optical fibres and power supplies, Communications Minister Bikram Timilsinha said.
In a separate incident in Nepal, 10 local workers were also missing after an avalanche buried the base camp of the 7,126-metre (23,379-ft) Himlung Himal in the northern Manang district, hiking officials said.
The workers had been setting up tents for foreign climbers, who were not present when the avalanche struck.
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