Iran sends response to latest US peace proposal as Netanyahu insists war ‘not over’ |
Iran on Sunday handed over its response to the latest US peace proposal, local media reported, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the war is “not over,” despite US President Donald Trump’s apparent desire to end hostilities and insistence that Iran had been roundly defeated.
“It should be noted that the main focus of Iran’s response to the US proposal is on ‘ending the war and maritime security’ in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz,” Iran’s ISNA news agency said, without offering further details, shortly after Tehran said it had delivered its answer to Pakistani mediators.
The US proposal, if Iran agrees to it, will formally end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz before beginning talks on more contentious issues, including the Iranian nuclear program.
Trump had said he was expecting Iran’s reply by Friday, but the wait dragged on, and the ceasefire came under increasing strain Sunday, with Iran apparently firing several drones at Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait.
Apparently preparing the country for the possibility of an agreement, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X: “We will never bow down to the enemy, and if there is talk of dialogue or negotiation, it does not mean surrender or retreat.
Tehran’s military chief Ali Abdollahi, meanwhile, met the country’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and received “new directives and guidance for the continuation of operations to confront the enemy,” according to Iranian state television.
Netanyahu says war ‘not over’
Netanyahu, in an interview with the CBS newsmagazine program, “60 Minutes,” insisted that the war is not over, as there remained in Iran’s possession enriched uranium that “has to be taken out” of the country, and broader “work to be done” against its military capabilities.
“There are still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled. There are still proxies........