Iran Rejects US Proposal as Trump Threatens Sweeping Destruction
Iran is saying no to a US ceasefire proposal as US President Donald Trump threatens sweeping destruction of Iran's civilian infrastructure. With Iran keeping the critical Strait of Hormuz route for oil and gas largely closed, countries not involved in the fighting are trying to secure their own interests amid fuel shortages.
War in Iran: US Ultimatum, Iranian Defiance, and Global Stakes
REPORTER:
Rescuers search for survivors in remnants of a building turned to rubble by US-Israeli strikes. This destruction in Qom Province, south of Iran’s capital Tehran, marks another grisly day in a war that could escalate sharply in just hours.
Iran has rejected a US peace proposal to end six weeks of war, saying it has a ten-point counteroffer, including reconstruction and the lifting of international sanctions.
But US President Donald Trump says that’s not good enough. He says his ultimatum to Iran — reach a deal Tuesday or face sweeping destruction — holds. And he says he isn’t concerned that some legal experts see his planned targeting of Iran’s civil infrastructure – power and water desalination plants – as a war crime.
Donald Trump (US PRESIDENT):
We have a plan because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12:00 tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business. Burning, exploding and never to be used again.
REPORTER:
But Iran’s leadership says it’s unfazed. As a spokesperson for Iranian military’s operational command center put it...
Ebrahim Zolfaqari (SPOKESPERSON, IRGC KHATAM AL-ANBIYA CENTRAL HQ):
The rude rhetoric, arrogance and baseless threats of the delusional U.S. president, arising from the deadlock he faces and aimed at justifying the repeated defeats of the U.S. military, will have no effect on the continuation of offensive and crushing operations by the fighters of Islam against U.S. and Israeli enemies, and will not repair the humiliation of the United States in West Asia.
REPORTER:
There is still one possible way out: Mediators have drafted a proposal for a 45-day-ceasefire which would also end an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – a chokepoint for oil and gas shipping. This would give time for talks and ease economic pain that’s hit the whole world since the war started. But neither Tehran nor Washington have responded. As the fighting threatens to expand, countries staying out of the fight are trying to secure their own interests.
The UK is hosting a military meeting Tuesday to secure passage through the strait once the war ends, and more than 40 countries plan to take part.
And Japan is trying to lower tensions ahead of Trump’s ultimatum. It gets more than 90% of its oil through the strait, and Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae says she’s looking to talk with Iran’s president and Trump.
With both countries in deadlock and Trump appearing keen to carry out his threat, the global impacts of the war may stretch on.
Leon Lien and John Van Trieste for TaiwanPlus
