A day after rejecting Iran's seven-day ceasefire proposal, President Trump told Axios he expects US negotiators to hold more talks with Iran this week, with regional sources saying another round of indirect negotiations could take place as early as Monday. "They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make. It is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago. They overplayed their hand," Trump said, adding that Qatar is continuing to mediate. Asked whether he was considering renewed strikes on Iran, he said, "I am always thinking about it."

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump rejected the plan, which would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz on the seventh day in exchange for lifting the US naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and easing oil sanctions, and told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterms. Confirming the rejection to reporters at the White House, Trump said, "I'm rejecting their deal," and claimed the US has "total control of the Hormuz Strait" and that Iran wants to open the waterway immediately "because they're losing so badly."

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran remains ready for diplomacy and war at the same time, telling NBC's Meet the Press that Tehran is still awaiting Washington's definitive response through mediators and warning that Iran is prepared to confront "any aggression, even if it comes to a doomsday war." Ambassador Mike Waltz said Iran wanted sanctions relief up front in the rejected deal and insisted all options remain on the table. Analyst Hamidreza Azizi said the rejection strengthens hardliners in Tehran who argue Iran can only reach a deal from a stronger position, and that further Iranian escalation in the strait before the midterms would not be a surprise.