‘Better deal’: What’s behind Trump’s rejection of Iran’s truce offer? — SkimNews
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- Donald Trump rejected Iran's seven-day proposal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying any deal 'would not be acceptable' and that Tehran is 'losing so badly,' while Iran said it had yet to receive a formal US response through Qatar-mediated channels.
- Iran's proposal included lifting the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, waiving sanctions on Iranian oil sales, releasing an estimated $12bn in frozen assets, and observing a wider regional ceasefire covering Lebanon and Yemen, in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
- Trump's strategy leans on escalating economic pressure — a naval blockade, sanctions targeting Iranian oil revenues, aviation sanctions that disrupted Iranian flights last week, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's broader global financial pressure campaign.
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran 'no longer trusts talks with Washington' after attacks occurred during previous rounds of negotiations and were followed by sanctions.
- Iran-aligned Houthis expanded control of Yemen's Red Sea coastline, gaining unrestricted access to the Bab al-Mandeb strait, and declared a naval blockade on Saudi ships using it as an alternative shipping route to Hormuz for oil exports.
- A late August Reuters/Ipsos poll found 63% of Americans opposed the US-Israel war on Iran while 31% supported it, with rising fuel and transportation costs feeding into broader cost-of-living concerns ahead of November's midterms.
- Richard Weitz of the NATO Defence College compared the current dynamic to a decade ago, when sustained economic pressure produced the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, suggesting a similar trade-off could emerge in coming months.
Why it matters: With Republicans trailing in polls and midterms approaching, Trump's wager that more time and tighter sanctions will extract better terms from Iran carries a direct domestic cost — continued Hormuz disruption keeps energy prices elevated and gives Iran leverage to escalate through Bab al-Mandeb, potentially before voters head to the polls.
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