TEHRAN Sept 26, 2026 – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that Tehran no longer trusts negotiations with Washington, arguing that previous rounds of diplomacy were followed by sanctions and attacks.
“We have no trust in the American side and do not know on what basis an understanding can be reached with it,” Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera. He said Qatar and Pakistan are currently carrying messages between the two sides, based on a June memorandum of understanding that later lapsed.
The comments came after Iran put forward a seven-day proposal during this week’s U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York. Under that plan, the United States would lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waive sanctions on Iranian oil sales, release an estimated $12 billion in frozen assets, and observe a regional ceasefire covering Lebanon and Yemen. In return, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin broader talks, including on its nuclear program.
President Donald Trump rejected the offer on Saturday, telling reporters outside the White House that Iran wanted to reopen the waterway immediately because it was “losing so badly.” He said the United States has “total control” of the strait and that the Iranian proposal was unacceptable. Reports cited U.S. officials saying Trump expects renewed military action after November midterm elections.
Pezeshkian, who addressed the U.N. earlier this week and later spoke with U.S. media, said Iran remains open to diplomacy but will not accept coercion. He rejected a direct meeting with Trump, saying Washington had failed to honor a previous agreement. The Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil and gas before the conflict, remains effectively closed to most commercial traffic after more than 200 days of disruption.
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