Trump expects Iran talks to resume next week despite rejecting truce plan

US President Donald Trump said Sunday he expects talks with Iran to resume in the coming week, despite having rejected a truce proposal Tehran brought to the UN General Assembly in New York. That plan called for a seven-day ceasefire followed by the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel.

Trump dismissed the proposal and even raised the possibility of resuming full-scale air strikes on Iranian targets, but told Axios in an interview published Sunday that he still expects negotiations to restart. He said Iran wants a deal but not the one Washington wants, adding that Tehran "overplayed their hand." Sources familiar with the matter told Axios that indirect talks could begin as early as Monday.

As of Sunday, Iran was still holding firm to its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, leaving the Gulf front of the conflict at a standstill while fighting continues in Yemen. The strait, a critical chokepoint for global energy supplies, has become central to the standoff between Washington and Tehran since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran nearly seven months ago.

Iran's demands

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran's plan calls for an end to all hostilities across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, and a return to the terms of an earlier ceasefire that collapsed — including the release of frozen Iranian assets, lifting of oil sanctions, and an end to the US naval blockade. Araghchi said Iran will not back down from these conditions.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz accused Tehran of making excessive demands just to return to the negotiating table, calling the offer a cynical attempt to present unacceptable terms.

Separately, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they seized an American underwater surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday for data recovery. Washington and Tehran had signed a memorandum of understanding in June to end the war and reopen the strait, but the deal collapsed after Iran fired on commercial ships it accused of deviating from an approved route.