Trump reviews peace plan; UN calls for Hormuz to reopen

A woman walks past a billboard featuring an image of the late supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on a building, amid a ceasefire between the US and Iran, [Majid Asgaripour-WANA-Reuters]

US President Donald Trump’s national security team is reviewing an Iranian peace plan to halt the war and open the Strait of Hormuz, while postponing talks on its nuclear programme.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg and says Tehran is considering a US request to restart negotiations.

Iran’s defence ministry spokesperson says the US can no longer “dictate” what other countries do as Washington reviews Tehran’s new proposal.

“The US is no longer in a position to dictate its policy to independent nations,” Reza Talaei-Nik was quoted as saying by state TV.

Talaei-Nik added Washington would “accept that it must abandon its illegal and irrational demands”.

Israeli air strikes have targeted areas north of the Litani River in Lebanon, our correspondent on the ground reports.

The attacks have caused a wave of displacement that has extended to neighbouring villages and has led to traffic on the main roads linking Nabatieh, Sidon and the capital Beirut.

Meanwhile, a top Iranian official said his country’s armed forces would be the authority responsible for the Strait of Hormuz under a proposed national law for managing the waterway.

Iran’s FM blamed the US for the failure of talks after landing in Russia as part of a whirlwind diplomatic tour, with direct negotiations between the warring parties seemingly at an impasse.

Iran condemned Washington’s capture of two Iran-linked oil tankers, calling it “the outright legalisation of piracy”. Foreign Ministry spokesman said the move amounted to “armed robbery on the high seas”. – Source: Al Jazeera