Iran says it has received Washington’s reply to its latest peace proposal, with Donald Trump reportedly dismissing the 14-point plan as unacceptable.
The response, which was delivered through Pakistan acting as intermediary, is now being studied in Tehran, according to Tasnim news agency, which cited Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson. The United States has yet to formally confirm that it has replied.
However, President Trump is understood to have told Israel’s Kan News on Sunday that the proposal was not one he could accept. Writing on his Truth Social platform late on Saturday, Trump said of the Iranians: “They have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years.”
Speaking to reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, the same day, the president indicated he had not yet read the document in full. “They told me about the concept of the deal,” he said. “They’re going to give me the exact wording now.”
According to Iranian state media, the 14-point plan calls on Washington to pull its forces back from positions near Iran’s borders, lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and bring all hostilities to an end — including Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon. It also proposes that a full agreement between the two countries be concluded within 30 days, and urges both sides to shift their focus from extending the current ceasefire to formally “ending the war”.
Tehran’s offer is said to have been drawn up in response to an earlier nine-point US plan, which had envisaged a two-month ceasefire.
Pressed by the BBC on whether American military strikes against Iran could resume, Trump said it remained “a possibility”. He added: “If they misbehave. If they do something bad. But right now we’ll see.”
The president also made clear he had no intention of disengaging from the region entirely, telling reporters that “we’re not leaving” and that “we’re going to do it, so nobody has to go back in two years or five years.”
The diplomatic exchange comes against the backdrop of a wider debate in Washington over the legal footing of the conflict. On Friday, Trump wrote to members of Congress declaring that the war had been “terminated” since a ceasefire took hold on 8 April, although he acknowledged Iran continued to pose a “significant” threat to American forces stationed in the region.
The naval blockade of Iranian ports, he insisted, did not amount to a continuation of hostilities. “It’s a very friendly blockade,” he said. “Nobody is even challenging it.”
Under US law, a president must obtain congressional approval within 60 days of notifying lawmakers of military action, or otherwise wind down operations. Friday marked the 60th day since Trump formally notified Congress of strikes against Iran on 2 March. The US and Israel had launched their offensive two days earlier, on 28 February. The president has argued that the ceasefire effectively paused the clock on any such requirement.
Throughout his public remarks on Friday, Trump repeated his long-standing position that “Iran can never have a nuclear weapon”. Tehran has consistently denied pursuing one, maintaining that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes — though it remains the only non-nuclear-armed state to have enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels.
His comments come at a moment of growing unease on Capitol Hill, including from within his own party, over what some lawmakers regard as a costly conflict with unclear aims.
Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley urged the administration to start drawing down US forces and said congressional approval would be needed for the war to continue. “I don’t really want to do that,” he said. “I want to wind it down.”
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, a frequent Trump critic, questioned whether the operation could be considered a success
