Iran’s rejection of Washington’s conditions for ending the war leaves US President Donald Trump in a political and military bind. He is caught between a resumption of fighting that would drain his military’s capabilities and meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping on May 14—a summit he will now enter from a position of diminished leverage.
After the United States raised expectations of an agreement to end the raging conflict in the Middle East, Iran’s response to the US proposal came late and ran counter to expectations.
Tehran rejected Washington’s proposal on the evening of May 10, after delaying its response beyond the two-day deadline set by the United States. The US proposal had conditioned a settlement on Iran halting its nuclear activities, handing over enriched uranium, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that Iran had called on the United States to end its naval blockade, guarantee an end to attacks, lift sanctions, and terminate the US-imposed ban on Iranian oil sales.
Following Trump’s comments, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran’s proposal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz was “generous and responsible,” adding that Washington continued to cling to unreasonable and unilateral demands.
“We did not demand any concessions. Our demand is legitimate: demanding an end to the war, lifting the [US] blockade [on Iranian ports] and piracy, and releasing Iranian assets that have been unjustly frozen in banks due to US pressure,” Baghaei said.
According Tasnim, Iranian sources dismissed Trump’s reaction as irrelevant, stressing that Tehran would continue to formulate its positions based on the interests of the Iranian people, and that “no one in Iran drafts plans to please Trump.”
Trump, meanwhile, limited his response to calling the rejection “unacceptable,” stepping back from his latest threats to resume the war “if Iran misbehaves.” The US president has taken similar positions on several occasions, most notably when he unilaterally extended the truce after Iran boycotted talks in Pakistan in April.
This increasingly complicated path toward an agreement comes at a sensitive time, days ahead of Trump’s visit to Beijing. He is scheduled to meet his Chinese counterpart to discuss economic and trade issues alongside the Iran war.
Trump had wagered on Iran accepting the US proposal before his trip to gain stronger leverage by resolving hostilities. Instead, continued tensions are pushing Trump to seek Xi’s support in ending the conflict, as Beijing depends heavily on Iranian oil and has the ability to influence paths toward either de-escalation or escalation.
Those hopes have collided with the Iranian response, which opens the door to a war of attrition. The conflict has now entered its 73rd day, despite US plans for it to end within two weeks.
During his visit to Beijing, the US president carrys the hope of neutralizing China or reducing its reliance on Iran for oil purchases, as the main buyer of Iranian crude. This may push him to offer concessions on technology, security, and trade, leaving Trump two options: military escalation with no guaranteed end, or a settlement that meets neither his conditions nor Israel’s demand to halt uranium enrichment.
For its part, China views the meeting as an opportunity to shape the regional agenda and protect its strategic influence in the Gulf. This comes at a time when the United States is searching for a way out of the Iranian crisis that would secure it a victory, even if temporarily.
Economically, oil prices rose to about $106 a barrel, up from $100 the previous week, signaling that markets still view the crisis as open to escalation despite repeated talk of an imminent agreement.
With one-fifth of global oil trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz, any disruption remains a direct threat to international markets.
