Iran vows no retreat as Trump rejects 7-day ceasefire, Hormuz reopening plan

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has vowed that Tehran will not retreat in the face of the United States and Israel after US President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and a roadmap to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The latest exchange has deepened the impasse between Washington and Tehran, with Iran insisting that diplomacy remains possible while maintaining that it will not accept negotiations under pressure. Iran had proposed reopening the strategically important waterway within seven days if the US agreed to a series of measures, including lifting its naval blockade of Iranian ports and easing sanctions.

Pezeshkian vows to stand firm

Speaking to people gathered at the airport after returning from the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Pezeshkian said Iran would remain committed to its people and resist pressure from the US and Israel.

“We stand firm with strength, we are at the service of our people, we will stand until our last breath,” Pezeshkian said, adding that he would remain a servant of the Iranian people.

A similar message came from the Iranian military. Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, senior spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces, told Iranian state television that Tehran had resolved “to have not the slightest retreat in the face of the enemy and to suppress him”.

Shekarchi described Iran as “the most experienced country in the world in asymmetric warfare” and warned Washington against attempting to interfere with the management of the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Americans should not dream of interfering in the management of the Strait of Hormuz, and if they interfere, they will receive a slap from the Iranian Armed Forces; they must leave our region,” he said.

He further warned that any ship passing through the waterway outside a route designated by Iran “will not have security”.

The Iranian general also addressed neighbouring Muslim countries, saying: “Get your act together; you're not getting any warm water from America.”

What Iran proposed to reopen Hormuz

The proposal was put forward by Pezeshkian and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during their visit to New York for the UN General Assembly.

Under the seven-day roadmap, Washington would lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waive sanctions on Iranian oil sales, release an estimated $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets and observe a ceasefire covering the region, including Lebanon and Yemen.

In return, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while negotiations with Washington on a final agreement concerning Iran's nuclear programme would begin on the seventh day.

Araghchi had said the initial measures would take four to five days, with the waterway reopening on the sixth day and nuclear negotiations beginning on the seventh. Iran had presented the proposal through mediators, with Tehran saying Qatar and Pakistan were conveying its messages to Washington.

Iranian officials have said the proposal is linked to a Memorandum of Understanding reached by the two sides in June. Pezeshkian said Washington needed to clarify its position on that agreement, which had subsequently lapsed.

The proposal came amid continuing international concern over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a substantial share of global oil and gas shipments normally passes. Iran has expressed readiness to reopen the waterway if US military pressure and the blockade of its ports are eased.

Tehran says it no longer trusts US negotiations

Pezeshkian also told Al Jazeera that Iran no longer trusted negotiations with Washington, arguing that previous rounds of talks had been followed by attacks and sanctions.

“We have no trust in the American side and do not know on what basis an understanding can be reached with it,” he said.

At the same time, the Iranian president said the crisis could be resolved through negotiations rather than force. He said the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened to commercial shipping if talks resulted in an end to the war.

Pezeshkian rejected the claim that Iran was responsible for closing the waterway, saying the US “closed the routes before us”. He described the closure as “a natural response when routes are cut off to Iran”.

He also described the US as the “aggressor” in the conflict and said Iran “has not attacked any country in 200 years”. According to Pezeshkian, Washington and Israel had drawn regional countries into the war after believing that Iran's political system “would collapse within days”.

Trump rejects Iran's seven-day proposal

Trump has rejected the Iranian plan. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, he said: “I reject this agreement.”

He said Iran wanted an agreement under which the Strait of Hormuz would be opened immediately, arguing that Tehran was under severe pressure.

Trump's rejection came after Iran publicly outlined its seven-day roadmap. While Tehran said it was awaiting a formal US response through mediators, reports said Trump had already ruled out the proposal.

The US president has also insisted on free passage through Hormuz and has continued to apply pressure on Tehran. The waterway has remained a central flashpoint in the conflict, with Washington and Tehran at odds over control of shipping routes and the conditions for reopening commercial traffic.

The latest confrontation leaves the Iranian proposal and the broader diplomatic track at an impasse, with Tehran maintaining that it is open to negotiations but rejecting what it describes as coercion, while Washington has rejected the seven-day roadmap put forward by Iran.