Like pirates
Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Friday that his country had “never shied away from negotiations”, but would not accept the “imposition” of peace terms.
The White House has declined to provide details on the latest Iranian proposal, but news site Axios reported that US envoy Steve Witkoff had submitted amendments to a previous one putting Tehran’s nuclear programme back on the negotiating table.
The changes reportedly include demands that Iran not move enriched uranium from bombed sites nor resume activity there during talks.
Iran’s mission to the UN pointed to the United States’ massive nuclear arsenal, accusing it of “hypocritical behaviour” towards Iran’s own atomic programme.
It went on to insist there was no legal “restriction on the level of uranium enrichment, so long as it is conducted under the IAEA’s supervision, as was the case with Iran”.
News of the new Iranian proposal had briefly pushed oil prices down nearly five percent, though they remain about 50 percent above pre-war levels amid the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has maintained a stranglehold on the strait since the war began, choking off major flows of oil, gas and fertiliser to the world economy, while the United States has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports.
Speaking at a rally on Friday, Trump said “we’re like pirates” as he described an earlier helicopter raid on an oil tanker under the blockade.
Despite the ceasefire in the Gulf, fighting has continued in Lebanon, where Israel has carried out deadly strikes despite a separate truce with the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
Lebanese state media reported a fresh series of strikes in the south on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Washington announced late Friday it had approved major arms sales to its allies in the Middle East, including a $4 billion Patriot missile deal with Qatar and nearly $1 billion in precision weapons systems to Israel.