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US President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to immediately reopen trade, saying that Tehran is incurring significant losses and announcing that the United States fully controls the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said that huge amounts of oil pass through the Strait, noting that 29 ships passed through it the previous night.
Earlier, Trump had rejected an Iranian proposal for a 7-day ceasefire, at a time when Tehran proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming negotiations, according to US officials quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
Trump told his aides that he expects to resume bombing Iran after the midterm elections in November, and during closed sessions, he expressed skepticism about Tehran's potential to meet his demands and suggested launching a new bombing campaign.
Officials noted that Trump's current positions may change with the ongoing conflict in the coming weeks and may be affected by the results of the midterm elections.
Trump is also hesitant to resume major combat operations against Iran, partly due to the US desire to retain its dwindling stockpile of ammunition for other potential emergencies, according to the newspaper.
Iranian 7-day plan
In contrast, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi revealed on Friday a plan submitted by Tehran to the United States via Qatar, which provides for reopening the Strait of Hormuz to navigation within 7 days, provided Washington meets Iranian conditions.
Araqchi explained that the Strait would open on the sixth day of the deadline, with negotiations on agreed files to reach a final agreement to begin the following day, while the United States must take action that Tehran considers feasible within 4 or 5 days.
He said: "I tell you that if the American side is serious about reaching a deal and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, everything is ready."
According to media reports, the plan includes halting all hostilities in the Middle East for 7 days, including in Lebanon, releasing frozen Iranian assets worth about $12 billion, lifting sanctions on Iranian oil, and ending the US blockade on Iranian ports.
On the seventh day of the truce, Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Araqchi said that "the choice is now up to the United States," stressing that Iran does not accept oppression, threats, or intimidation and will not abandon its sovereign rights under pressure.
He considered that it is not possible to bomb a country, threaten it with annihilation, impose a naval blockade and coercive measures on it, and then expect security and navigation to return automatically.
He stressed that the UN Charter is not optional, sovereignty is not conditional, diplomacy is not surrender, and peace cannot be built through threats of annihilation.
He pointed out that maritime navigation has recovered about 60% of its pre-war level within two weeks of the implementation of the memorandum of understanding, but subsequent unilateral US actions and Washington's military move violated the implementation of the memorandum and obstructed it, according to him.
On Tuesday, Araqchi met with US President's envoy Steve Wittkoff, after he had set conditions for ending the war and reopening the vital waterway.
In this context, Iranian Revolutionary Guard spokesman Hussein Mahbi said on Friday that Tehran will not stop "punishing the United States until our 7 conditions are met," adding that Iranian missiles are capable of destroying US multi-layered defenses, according to Iranian television.
Mahbi said that Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz and that the United States claims it is open to avoid rising oil prices, adding that Washington has been unable to keep the Strait open for a few hours despite having the world's largest naval force.
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