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Iran rejected a U.S. ceasefire proposal delivered to Tehran by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, the New York Times (NYT) reported, citing Iranian and Iraqi officials.
This comes as fighting between Washington and Tehran continued for nearly two weeks and Iranian officials warned they would strike Tel Aviv if Trump follows through on threats to hit Tehran directly.
According to the Times, Zaidi carried the proposal to Tehran during a visit that followed his recent meeting with Trump at the White House.
The Times reported that the details of the proposal were not immediately clear, but that Iranian officials described it as the only offer currently on the table, and said Tehran was not interested in a temporary deal that left the question of control over the Strait of Hormuz unresolved.
Zaidi traveled to Tehran with a delegation of senior Iraqi officials and met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, chief negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Araghchi told Iranian state television that Iran and Iraq, which share a border, have close mutual economic, political and security ties, and that the visit carried particular significance given the current regional circumstances.
Araghchi said Zaidi shared his "views and impressions" from his Washington trip, but that Tehran and Washington already have enough mediators.
"The problem is not passing messages," Araghchi said, adding, "The problem is America's outlook, which is illogical, greedy and controlling."
The Times reported that two Iranian officials said the country's armed forces are anticipating and preparing for the possibility of the war expanding if Trump follows through on threats to strike Tehran and additional critical infrastructure.
According to those officials, cited by the Times, Iran would respond by expanding the fight regionally, including by striking Tel Aviv and asking its Houthi allies in Yemen to close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
The Times reported that on Thursday, at a nightly pro-government rally in Tehran's Azadi Square, a military vehicle paraded Iranian-made ballistic missiles pointed skyward. Iranian authorities on Wednesday put the death toll from ongoing U.S. strikes at 53, with 592 others injured.
Regional tensions have escalated over the past two weeks since Trump announced on July 8 that the ceasefire outlined in last month's U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was no longer in effect.
Since then, the U.S. and Iran have exchanged strikes, with Washington targeting sites inside Iran, including military bases and infrastructure such as railroads, airports, bridges and seaports, while Tehran has attacked U.S. military facilities and equipment across several regional countries with ballistic missiles and drones.
The confrontation has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, threatened global energy supplies, and prompted intermittent airspace closures and growing warnings of attacks on U.S. facilities and interests beyond the Middle East.
U.S. forces launched strikes against Iranian targets for a 13th consecutive night early Friday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced.
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