President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran "no longer trusts talks with Washington" because US attacks and sanctions followed every previous round of negotiation, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted a negotiated solution remains the only way out of the war and said Iran will not back down from its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Araghchi said Tehran has seen President Donald Trump's initial reaction to its seven-day truce proposal but is still waiting for Washington's definitive response through Qatari and Pakistani mediators.

Trump confirmed the rejection on Saturday, saying "I'm rejecting their deal" and that Iran wants to open the strait immediately "because they're losing so badly," claiming the US has "total control of the Hormuz Strait." The Wall Street Journal reported he told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections. The rejected plan called for a seven-day halt to regional hostilities, the release of at least $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets, lifting sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade, with Iran reopening Hormuz on the seventh day and then restarting nuclear talks.

Pezeshkian has offered concessions aimed at keeping diplomacy alive, telling Fox News Iran would give up its 60% enriched uranium within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and allow IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities. Analyst Hamidreza Azizi said Trump's rejection strengthens hardliners in Tehran who argue Iran can only reach a deal from a stronger position, and that he would not be surprised by further Iranian escalation in the strait before the midterms.