Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, has said President Donald Trump does not believe Iran is operating in good faith with its recent proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper during an appearance on State of the Union on Sunday, Mr Waltz said: “The President is just not confident that the Iranians are coming in good faith and that they will truly negotiate the end of their nuclear programme.
“They were asking for everything up front,” he said. The US feels Tehran is demanding relief from sanctions implemented during what the White House has called Operation Economic Fury, he added.
“Also and more importantly, they were asking to end snapback sanctions from the United Nations that have been in place for many years,” he said, referring to punitive measures linked to Iran's nuclear programme.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier said only a negotiated solution could resolve the regional war, after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran's proposal that it said would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“None of our enemies has any path left other than a negotiated solution based on dignity and justice, and securing the rights of the Iranian people and their legitimate demands,” Mr Araghchi said in a Telegram post.
“Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock,” he said, claiming that Iran’s opponents had tried every available route without success.
Mr Waltz said there are a number of reasons to be sceptical of Iran's proposals, including what he called breaches of the ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran in June.
“Once we got to the MoU [memorandum of understanding] … the Iranians immediately violated it by attacking international shipping in violation of international law, and 146 nations have joined us in condemning Iran for those attacks,” he said.
Meanwhile, in 37 days US voters will go to the polls in midterm elections. But recent polling among registered voters in the US has found Mr Trump's decision to attack Iran has become increasingly unpopular as the war drags on.
The chances of the Democrats regaining control of the House of Representatives and Senate has increased substantially, meaning Mr Trump's influence for the rest of his White House tenure could be blunted.
