Iran responded dismissively after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected Tehran's reply to a U.S. ceasefire proposal, saying "the U.S. president's reaction is of no importance at all."
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Tuesday, citing a source, that "no one in Iran is drafting a plan to satisfy Trump" and dismissed the U.S. president's reaction as entirely unimportant. The source stressed that Iran's negotiating team should keep only the interests of the Iranian people in mind when drafting the proposal.
Earlier, Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday that he had "just read the response from Iran's so-called 'representatives,'" adding, "I don't like it. It is totally unacceptable." Tasnim reported Monday that Iran had demanded a halt to the war and the lifting of sanctions against Iran as key conditions for ending the conflict in its response to the U.S. ceasefire proposal. Iran also emphasized the need to end the U.S. naval blockade and lift the 30-day ban on Iranian crude oil sales, according to the report.
Trump did not specify which parts of Iran's response were "unacceptable." However, given that Trump has consistently cited a ban on Iran's nuclear weapons development and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as top priorities, Iran's response on these issues appears to have fallen short of U.S. expectations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with CBS on Monday that "we have significantly weakened (Iran's) nuclear capabilities in the war," while adding, "there is still work to be done, as uranium and nuclear facilities remain in Iran." His remarks suggested that Israel would continue the war unless highly enriched uranium inside Iran is removed.
As a result, indirect negotiations conducted through mediator Pakistan have effectively collapsed, following the "no-deal" outcome of high-level bilateral talks held in Islamabad on Nov. 11-12.
About two hours before posting his reaction to Iran's response, Trump wrote on Truth Social, blasting Iran for having "played the United States and the rest of the world for 47 years. Delay, delay, delay." He warned that Iran had "laughed at our country, which is great again," adding, "They won't be laughing anymore."
