Iran, uninterested in 'temporary deal' with US, rejects Iraqi-led ceasefire proposal - report
Iran rejected on Thursday a ceasefire proposal from US President Donald Trump carried to Tehran by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing Iranian and Iraqi officials. This came following Trump's remarks that he was considering a “massive attack; bigger than ever before.” Zaidi's traveled to Iran with a delegation of senior Iraqi officials and met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian; the country's top negotiator, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf; and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said the NYT, citing local media. The meeting came shortly following Zaidi's meeting with Trump in Washington, DC. Tehran not interested in temporary deal, officials sayIranian officials said the proposal was the only offer on the table, although its details remain unclear, the NYT reported. The officials, however, made it clear that Tehran was not interested in a temporary deal that failed to answer the question of who would control the Strait of Hormuz. Iran and neighboring Iraq share economic, political, and security interests and have close ties, Araghchi told state television. The visit was significant given the region's current circumstances, the NYT cited him as saying. The prime minister shared his “insights and impressions” from the meeting with Iranian officials, Araghchi told local media, the report said. He added that the problem is not finding mediators but rather “America's outlook, which is illogical, greedy, and controlling.”Iran's armed forces were anticipating and preparing for escalated attacks against the US if Trump carried out his threats to strike Tehran and other critical infrastructure, two Iranian officials said, according to the report. According to the officials, if Trump does increase his attacks, Tehran will expand the fight regionally, including with strikes on Tel Aviv and asking Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthis to close the strategic Red Sea waterway of Bab al-Mandab, the NYT said.