Iran offers new peace proposal to U.S. but Trump says he’s ‘not satisfied with it’

Cargo ships are seen at sea near the Strait of Hormuz, as viewed from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Friday, May 1, 2026. Photo by Fatima Shbair/AP

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TEHRAN — Iran delivered a new proposal for peace talks with the U.S. via mediator Pakistan, state media reported Friday, with negotiations between the two sides frozen despite a weeks-long ceasefire.

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The text of the proposal was handed to Islamabad on Thursday evening, the IRNA news agency reported.

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The war, launched by the United States and Israel with a vast wave of surprise strikes on February 28 has been on hold since April 8, but only one failed round of direct talks has taken place between Iranian and U.S. representatives.

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In the meantime, Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off vast amounts of oil, gas and fertilizer from the world economy, while the United States has imposed a counterblockade on Iranian ports.

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The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump had told security officials to prepare for the blockade to last months, causing oil prices to spike.

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Despite the failure to negotiate an end to the war, the ceasefire has held. On Friday, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, a senior figure and well-respected cleric, said “the Islamic Republic has never shied away from negotiations”.

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But in yet another sign that finding a compromise may prove difficult, Ejei said “we certainly do not accept imposition”, in a video shared by the judiciary’s Mizan Online website.

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Tehran, though, does not want a return to war he said.

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“We do not welcome war in any way; we do not want war, we do not want its continuation.”

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The lack of fighting has not assuaged markets, with oil prices still more than 50 per cent above their prewar levels as traders confront a prolonged closure of Hormuz, while the European Central Bank held interest rates amid fears of soaring inflation.

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Meanwhile, Trump expressed displeasure with the current state of negotiations with Iran but stopped short of threatening fresh military action.

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“They want to make a deal but I’m not satisfied with it,” Trump told reporters at the White House Friday. “We just had a conversation with Iran. Let’s see what happens. But I would say that I am not happy.”

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In the new proposal, Tehran offers to discuss its conditions for opening the strait while still demanding the U.S. pledges to stop its attacks and unwind its blockade, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar. 

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Asked about the administration’s options, Trump mused, “Do we want to just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever or do we want to try and make a deal?” He added that “on a human basis, I prefer not” to order more strikes.

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Washington was also gripped by a legalistic debate over whether Trump had passed a deadline for requesting congressional approval for his war with Iran.

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Administration officials, including defence secretary Pete Hegseth, insisted that the ceasefire meant that the clock was paused on a 60-day deadline requiring the president to seek war powers authorization from Congress.