After Trump rejects Iran’s ceasefire offer, Pezeshkian says ‘the process will begin’ once US accepts
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has left New York for Tehran after attending and addressing the 81st United Nations General Assembly, Press TV reported. His visit came amid discussions around the conflict in West Asia, with Iran also putting forward a seven-day plan aimed at ending the fighting.
During his stay, Pezeshkian met separately with the leaders of Switzerland, Iraq, Bangladesh, Norway, Armenia, the Netherlands, Lebanon and Pakistan. He also held meetings with the President of the European Council and the UN Secretary-General.
Pezeshkian speaks about US-Iran distrust
In an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan”, Pezeshkian described relations between Iran and the US as being marked by an “atmosphere of distrust”.
He said any move towards an understanding would first require clarity over what the two sides were actually trying to resolve.
Pezeshkian said, “what exactly we want to reach an understanding on.” He added, “If this message reaches the president of the United States, or those involved in the discussions, naturally the process will begin from the very day they accept it.”
The Iranian president also blamed the US for the collapse of the ceasefire agreement described as the “memorandum of understanding”, which was signed with Washington in June.
This came as The Wall Street Journal reported that US President Donald Trump had rejected Iran’s proposal for a seven-day ceasefire. Citing US officials, the report said Trump had told aides that he expected bombing of Iran to resume after the November midterm elections.
Trump had earlier issued a warning about Iran during his UN General Assembly speech on September 22.
“I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic, and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? But I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn’t make sense for them not to,” he told the Assembly.
Iran puts forward seven-day plan
Iranian Foreign Minister Syed Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that Tehran had proposed a seven-day plan to bring the conflict in West Asia to an end. The proposal would also involve reopening the Strait of Hormuz before comprehensive talks on Iran’s nuclear programme begin.
Speaking to reporters at the UN General Assembly, Araghchi said the proposal was modelled on the memorandum of understanding reached between Iran and the US in June.
“We have introduced a plan to the United States through the intermediators that if certain conditions are met, the Strait of Hormuz would be open on the end of the seventh day and talks would restart…it would be better, if a deal was reached before the U.S. midterm elections,” he said.
Araghchi also discussed the issue during his meeting with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. He said Iran had conveyed its “reasonable conditions and requirements” to the US for moving diplomacy forward, while stressing that restoring regional security required an end to what Iran describes as US interventionist and aggressive actions against the country.
Iran says diplomacy remains on the table
The Iranian foreign minister also reiterated Tehran’s commitment to diplomacy over its peaceful nuclear programme. He stressed that Iran’s good faith in negotiations could not be ignored, while also referring to US and Israeli military aggression against Iran during the talks.
At the same time, he rejected the portrayal of Iran as responsible for insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz.
With the US rejecting the Iranian peace proposal, the source material indicates that tensions in West Asia could intensify after the US midterm elections.
(With inputs from ANI)
ALSO READ:
Trump rejects Iran’s 7 day ceasefire proposal, plans to resume bombing Iran after US midterms: Reports
