President Donald Trump said Friday that he was “not satisfied” with a new Iranian negotiating proposal, at a time when peace talks between the two sides are stalled.
Iran presented the United States with a new proposal to resume negotiations and end two months of war, Iranian state media announced on Friday.
“Right now I’m not satisfied with what they’re offering,” Trump told reporters, blaming the stalled talks with Iran on the “tremendous discord” in his leadership.
“Do we want to go there and just lay waste to them and wipe them out forever, or do we want to try to reach an agreement? I mean, those are the options,” he responded when asked about the next steps, adding that he would “prefer not to” opt for the first alternative “because of a human issue.”
A ceasefire went into effect on April 8, after almost 40 days of Israeli-American bombings on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation in the region.
Trump, under pressure to request congressional authorization to continue the war, estimated Friday that hostilities “have ended” in a letter to congressional leaders.
“There has been no exchange of fire between United States forces and those of Iran since April 7, 2026. Hostilities that began on February 28, 2026 have ended,” Trump wrote in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley.
The Executive maintains that a ceasefire pauses the 60-day period that requires authorization from Congress, a claim that opposition Democrats reject.
Despite the failure of the negotiations, the ceasefire has held.
Twelve dead in Lebanon
However, fighting has continued in other parts of the region.
On the Lebanese front, Israel has carried out deadly attacks despite an April 17 ceasefire with the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which sought to end more than six weeks of fighting.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that 12 people were killed in attacks in the south, including the town of Habbuch, where the Israeli army had issued an evacuation order.
No details of the proposal
The White House has declined to comment on the details of the new Iranian proposal.
But the news site Axios reported that US envoy Steve Witkoff presented amendments to reintroduce Tehran’s nuclear program into the negotiations.
According to the outlet, these amendments included a demand that Iran not attempt to remove enriched uranium from the bombed sites, nor resume any activity there while talks continued.
News of the Iranian proposal briefly sent oil prices tumbling almost 5%, although they remain about 50% above pre-war levels, amid the continued closure of Hormuz.
cluster bombs
Fourteen members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard were reportedly killed trying to defuse what the Fars news agency called unexploded cluster bombs and aerial mines in the northwestern province of Zanyan.
Iran has accused the United States and Israel of using cluster munitions, which disperse submunitions that can remain dangerous for years.
The United States on Friday imposed new sanctions on three Iranian currency exchange firms and warned of future sanctions over the toll system that Iran wants to implement to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written statement that Iran had “demonstrated to the world, in a military battle with the enemies, its progress and excellence,” but added that it “must also disappoint and defeat them in the phase of economic and cultural jihad.”
