US ambassador to UN says Iran was not negotiating in good faith

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said Washington rejected an Iranian proposal to end the war because, in his account, Iranian negotiators demanded concessions in advance.

Speaking to CNN, Waltz said Iran sought relief from billions of dollars in sanctions imposed as part of an economic blockade. The US links that pressure to demands that Iran stop attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington questions Tehran’s intentions

Waltz said President Donald Trump was not confident that Iran was negotiating in good faith or was prepared to reach an agreement ending its nuclear programme. Trump had earlier said he rejected an Iranian peace proposal presented at the recent UN General Assembly in New York.

Trump said Iran wanted the Strait of Hormuz reopened immediately because it was suffering military setbacks, and claimed the US was “winning tremendously” and had “total control” of the waterway. He also said he expected further talks with Iran in the coming week.

Iran says diplomacy remains possible

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said only negotiations could resolve the conflict. He said Iran was prepared to resume fighting but had not abandoned diplomacy, while tying any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to the fulfilment of Iranian conditions.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was ready to discuss its nuclear programme and other issues but would not accept bullying or coercion. He said Iran was not seeking war and had already agreed not to develop nuclear weapons.

US cites failed framework agreement

Waltz referred to a memorandum of understanding signed in Pakistan in June that set out a 14-point framework agreement for negotiated peace. He said Iran soon violated it by attacking international shipping, adding that 146 countries had condemned those attacks.

The ambassador also did not confirm reports that China had helped Iran target shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and US military bases with missiles. He said Trump had raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping at meetings in Washington and previously in China, and that the US considered such support unacceptable.

Waltz separately rejected a report that the US would resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections. He said Washington would not allow Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to obtain a nuclear weapon.