Iran has sent its response to America's latest ceasefire proposal, an offer that President Donald Trump has rejected.
'I have just read the response from Iran's so-called 'Representatives.' I don't like it — Totally Unacceptable! Thank you for your attention to this matter,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday afternoon.
America still believes it holds powerful cards, as US Ambassador to the UN Mike Walz told Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream, 'We're seeing the world align with us.'
'Iran has shown its true colors. Yet President Trump is giving diplomacy a chance, backed by our great U.S. military,' Walz added.
The Trump administration's latest proposal addressed a deal to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and roll back Iran's nuclear program. Iran seeks to end the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, and to ensure the security of shipping, state TV said.
Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard publicly since the war began, 'issued new and decisive directives for the continuation of operations and the powerful confrontation with the enemies' while meeting with the head of the joint military command, the state broadcaster reported, with no details.
Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran does not accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program. Iran has largely blocked the strategic waterway that's key to the global flow of oil, natural gas and fertilizer since the war began, rattling world markets.
The U.S. military in turn has blockaded Iranian ports since April 13, saying it has turned back 61 commercial vessels and disabled four. On Friday, it struck two Iranian oil tankers it said were trying to breach the blockade. Iran's Revolutionary Guard navy says any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a 'heavy assault' on U.S. bases in the region and enemy ships.
Another sticking point in negotiations is Iran's highly enriched uranium. The U.N. nuclear agency says Iran has more than 440 kilograms (970 pounds) enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons grade.
In an interview posted late Saturday, an Iranian military spokesperson said forces were on 'full readiness' to protect sites where uranium is stored.
'We considered it possible that they might intend to steal it through infiltration operations or heli-borne operations,' Brig. Gen. Akrami Nia told the IRNA news agency.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an excerpt of an interview with CBS airing Sunday said the war isn't over because the enriched uranium needs to be taken out of Iran. 'Trump has said to me, 'I want to go in there,' and I think it can be done physically,' he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow's proposal to take enriched uranium from Iran to help negotiate a settlement remains on the table.
The majority of Iran's highly enriched uranium is likely at its Isfahan nuclear complex, the International Atomic Energy Agency director-general told The Associated Press last month. The facility was hit by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war last year and faced less intense attacks this year.
