Tehran
\nIran on Wednesday rubbished the claim from United States President Donald \u200bTrump that a new \u200bleader had just \u200casked the United States \u200bfor \u200ba ceasefire.
\n\u201cIran\u2019s new regime president, much less radicalised and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a ceasefire,\u201d Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
\nWashington would consider the request only when the strait was \u201copen, free and clear\u201d, he said, warning it would continue striking Iran \u201cinto oblivion or, as they say, back to the stone ages\u201d in the meantime.
\nAccording to Iran\u2019s IRIB news agency, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said no ceasefire proposal was made.
\nHe also said that a five-point plan allegedly proposed by Iran was \u201cmedia speculation\u201d, adding that the war would continue until \u201cthe aggressor is punished and full compensation is paid to Iran\u201d.
\nAraghchi told Al Jazeera the same, saying that Iran was seeking an end to the war and guarantees that such aggressions would not be repeated.
\nIranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei rejected Trump\u2019s claim, saying that Tehran asking for a ceasefire did not reflect reality.
\nAxios, citing three US officials, reported that discussions were underway about a ceasefire in exchange for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
\nOfficials said Trump was actively discussing the possibility with figures inside and outside his administration, but cautioned that it remained unclear whether a deal could be reached. Sources did not specify whether the discussions were taking place directly with Iran or through mediators such as Pakistan.
\nTrump separately told Reuters today, hours before \u200bhe was scheduled to make a \u200bprimetime address to the nation, that the US would \u200bbe \u201cout of Iran pretty quickly\u201d and \u200ccould return for \u201cspot hits\u201d if needed.
\nTrump also said he would express his disgust with NATO \u200bfor what he considered the alliance\u2019s lack \u200bof support for US objectives in Iran. He said he was \u201cabsolutely\u201d considering an attempt to withdraw \u200bthe US from NATO.<\/p>\n
UAE preparing to support US efforts to open Hormuz by force: report
\nMeanwhile, the United Arab Emirates is preparing to support US-led efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
\nCiting Arab officials, the outlet reported that the UAE is lobbying for a UN Security Council resolution that would authorise military action and is urging the US and military powers in Europe and Asia to form a coalition to secure the strategic waterway.
\nThe Gulf state is also reviewing potential military roles, including mine-clearing operations, as it weighs becoming a direct participant in the conflict for the first time, the report said.
\nIn a statement cited by the Wall Street Journal, the UAE Foreign Ministry said there is \u201cbroad global consensus that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz must be preserved,\u201d pointing to international condemnation of disruptions in the waterway.
\nUS-Israeli strikes hit steel complexes in central, southwest Iran
\nAccording to Al Jazeera, US-Israeli strikes have hit steel complexes in central and southwest Iran, damaging production units, Iranian media is reporting.
\n\u201cInitial assessments indicate massive attacks, with significant damage and destruction to production units\u201d at the complex of the Mobarakeh Steel Company, one of Iran\u2019s biggest, in the central province of Isfahan, Fars news agency reported, quoting a statement by the company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tehran Iran on Wednesday rubbished the claim from United States President Donald \u200bTrump that a new \u200bleader had just \u200casked the United States \u200bfor \u200ba ceasefire. \u201cIran\u2019s new regime president, much less radicalised and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a ceasefire,\u201d Trump wrote on his …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":95758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95735"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95764,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95735\/revisions\/95764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}