Iran War Live Updates: Tehran Dismisses Trump’s Cease-Fire Offer but Signals Openness to Talks

Iran war news: Tehran rejects Trump cease-fire as talk offer opens

By Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

Tehran dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s cease-fire proposal and said it was open to talks if Washington met “certain conditions”, Iranian officials told reporters on Tuesday.

The UAE received Iran’s reply early Tuesday morning and relayed it to Washington after Acting Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signalled readiness for “indirect dialogue”, two diplomats confirmed.

Trump had linked any cease-fire to Iran dropping uranium enrichment to bar levels and stopping missile transfers to regional allies, terms Tehran called “unilateral surrender”. Oil prices rose 2% in Asian hours while Gulf Arab states stayed silent.

The Iranian note arrived after Trump’s Sunday statement that he was “very close” to ordering strikes on nuclear sites and after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned “any attack will burn the region”. Israeli Prime Minister %%% said Israel “backed U.S. leverage” but had not been consulted on the Trump text, according to an official in his office.

Senior members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council spent four hours on Monday night debating whether to ignore the offer or present counter-proposals, an unnamed attendee told Iran’s Mehr agency. Hard-liners argued that answering would weaken “resistance credibility”, while diplomats warned that silence risked giving Washington “a pretext to strike”, the official said.

Tehran’s eventual reply contained no formal cease-fire acceptance and repeated demands that any talks cover “full sanctions relief, security guarantees and nuclear rights”, diplomats told Reuters. Observers said the wording stopped short of earlier flat rejections and left space for Oman-mediated meetings.

The State Department read Iran’s message as a “serious response” and scheduled a deputy-level meeting for this week to map next steps, two U.S. officials said. The Pentagon maintained an aircraft carrier and two destroyers in the Gulf of Oman but postponed planned B-52 flyovers at the White House’s request, a military spokesperson confirmed.

European diplomats, briefed on both texts, called Tehran’s answer calibrated to avoid provocation while preserving leverage. The U.K. Prime Minister’s office said Britain “shared U.S. goals” yet still backed nuclear talks led by France, Germany and the EU. China urged “mutual restraint” and warned kinetic action would hurt energy flows, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a daily briefing.

Energy analysts said Brent crude topped $80 per barrel on supply concerns after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait kept output steady. Asian refiners asked producers to clarify loading schedules amid insurance warnings on tankers passing the Strait of Hormuz, traders said. Airlines rerouted some Far-East Europe cargo flights away from Iranian airspace, tracking group RadarBox reported.

Background

The 2015 nuclear deal removed most sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on enrichment, but President Trump abandoned the accord in 2018 and reimposed oil and banking penalties. Talks to revive a modified agreement stalled in mid-2023 amid protests in Iran and reports of military aid to Russia. Western intelligence estimates Iran has since enriched uranium up to 84% purity, a level close to weapons grade.

Israel opposes any accord that leaves enrichment infrastructure intact and carried out sabotage on Iranian facilities in 2020 and 2021, U.S. and Israeli officials have acknowledged. Iranian-linked militias have launched drone and rocket attacks on U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq since 2019, prompting occasional American air raids.

What’s Next

Trump set a 24-hour deadline for a “clear yes or no” on the cease-fire, aides said, while Oman’s foreign ministry offered Muscat as a venue if both sides requested neutral mediation. EU envoys plan to share a compromise draft that shortens uranium stockpile limits but phases them over 9 months, three EU officials told reporters.