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U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected Iran's seven-day ceasefire proposal and told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Iran said Saturday it was still awaiting an official U.S. response to the plan, which it says could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt regional fighting within a week.
Trump's stance suggests the conflict, now in its seventh month, is more likely to tilt back toward hostilities than toward a deal.
The U.S. has told Iran and mediators it has no intention of lifting its naval blockade of Iranian ports, officials who spoke to the WSJ said.
Iran raised the idea of a seven-day pause at a meeting in Qatar on Sunday, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.
Under the proposal, the U.S. would lift its naval blockade, unfreeze some Iranian assets and lift sanctions on Iranian oil exports. In return, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and start negotiations on its nuclear program.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also told reporters at the U.N. on Friday that the deal would trigger a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and a pause in regional fighting, including in Lebanon.
"If there is seriousness on the U.S. side to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is now prepared," Araghchi said.
If Washington agreed, the two sides could begin wider talks "on mutually agreed subjects," he said.
Iran also engaged Saudi Arabia on the strait, Reuters reported.
Trump says publicly that Tehran is begging for a post-midterm deal that dismantles its nuclear program. Privately, he is skeptical Iran would meet his demands and has told staff he sees a renewed bombing campaign as likely, the officials said.
The scale of strikes Trump is weighing could not be determined, according to the Journal. He is reluctant to resume major combat operations, partly because the U.S. wants to preserve dwindling munitions for other contingencies, the officials said.
Trump told world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly this week that politics play no role in his Iran decisions.
"The Republican Party is running, and I'll be helping them, but I am not running. I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence through the election when it comes to Iran," Trump said.
"The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon," he added.
Washington believes economic pressure will eventually force Tehran to accept terms favorable to the U.S. and Gulf Arab states, the officials said.
A U.S. official told the Journal that the two sides are still negotiating through mediators, including on the nuclear issue. An American-led effort to keep oil tankers moving through Hormuz despite Iranian threats has eased the urgency for an agreement, the official said.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, had previously called the mediated talks "positive and constructive."
Arab mediators said Iranian diplomats have presented several proposals to end the war and acknowledged their country's deepening economic crisis, the Journal reported.
But the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said it will not entertain new formulas for an agreement and is prepared for a long war.
The Guard wants terms closer to the preliminary June deal, which offered oil sanctions relief, access to frozen assets and a role for Tehran in administering Hormuz in exchange for reopening the waterway.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran would show no flexibility on its nuclear program even if the U.S. accepts its peace plan.
"Iran would make no concessions on enriching uranium or shipping its highly enriched uranium abroad," the official said.
Trump's position on an Iran ceasefire could shift as the war drags on over the coming weeks and may be affected by the midterm results, officials told the Journal.
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