Trump to Review Iran's Proposal, Expects It to Be Unacceptable

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would review Iran's latest proposal aimed at reviving stalled negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program, but signaled he was unlikely to accept it, arguing the Islamic Republic had not yet paid a sufficient price for what he described as nearly five decades of hostility toward the United States and the international community. Speaking to reporters, Trump said the offer extended through intermediaries would be examined in the coming days, while making clear that Washington expects deeper concessions before any framework can be finalized. The remarks, first reported by @disclosetv, mark the latest setback in a months-long diplomatic track that has shuttled between Muscat, Doha and European capitals in search of a formula to halt Iran's enrichment activities and ease sweeping U.S. sanctions on the Iranian economy. Iranian officials had floated the new proposal as a confidence-building step, offering limited curbs on uranium enrichment in exchange for partial sanctions relief and the unfreezing of overseas assets held in third-country banks. Trump, however, suggested the package fell short of the strategic concessions he is demanding, including verifiable dismantlement of advanced centrifuges and an end to Iranian support for armed allies across the region. The president framed the standoff in historical terms, referencing the 47 years since the 1979 revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah and brought Iran's clerical establishment to power, a period during which Washington and Tehran have remained without formal diplomatic relations. The diplomatic impasse carries direct consequences for the Gulf, where Qatar has played a central mediating role between the two adversaries. Doha has hosted multiple rounds of indirect U.S.-Iran talks in recent years and has consistently urged restraint from both sides, warning that any military escalation in the Strait of Hormuz would devastate global energy markets and threaten the security of Gulf shipping lanes that carry nearly a third of the world's seaborne crude. Qatari officials have repeatedly stated that diplomacy remains the only viable path to regional stability, a position echoed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, all of whom have rebuilt working channels with Tehran since 2023. Energy markets reacted cautiously to Trump's comments, with analysts warning that a collapse of the talks could push Brent crude higher and complicate Gulf states' efforts to insulate their economies from renewed regional volatility. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has not yet responded publicly to Trump's remarks, though Tehran has previously warned that maximalist American demands would doom any negotiated outcome.