Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Monday declared that its counteroffer to Washington centers on ending regional warfare and recovering billions of dollars in frozen state assets, framing the demands not as negotiations but as the exercise of sovereign entitlement.
Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei used a weekly press briefing in Tehran to lay out Iran’s position, which also calls for lifting the United States naval blockade currently choking Iranian ports. “We did not demand any concessions. The only thing we demanded was Iran’s legitimate rights,” Baqaei said.
The statement arrives a day after sharp pushback from Washington. United States President Donald Trump rejected Tehran’s response on Sunday, describing it as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE” in a post on Truth Social.
The US 14-point proposal sent to Tehran this week requires Iran to freeze uranium enrichment for at least 12 years, reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days, and hand over an estimated 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent. In exchange, Washington offered to gradually lift sanctions and release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets.
Tehran has rejected the terms as a demand for surrender. Iran has reportedly agreed to suspend enrichment, but for a shorter period than the 20-year moratorium proposed by the US, and has refused to dismantle its nuclear facilities. Instead, Tehran proposed separate negotiations and offered to dilute some of its highly enriched uranium or transfer it to a third country, with a condition that it be returned if Washington exits any eventual agreement.
Control over the Strait of Hormuz remains a critical sticking point. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Washington will not allow Iran to maintain control over the international waterway, through which a fifth of global crude oil and gas passes.
Britain and France are exploring an international coalition to secure the strait, though both governments have said such a move would only follow a peace agreement between Washington and Tehran.
During the same Monday briefing, Baqaei dismissed satellite imagery appearing to show an oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran’s Kharg Island. He described the claims as “entirely fabricated” and attributed environmental concerns in the Gulf to the presence of US forces in the region.
Talks between the two sides continue to be mediated by Pakistan, with key issues including freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme, reconstruction costs, and the framework for a long-term peace agreement.
