Iran Says It Has Received Washington’s Official Reply to Latest Proposal to End the War

Iranian officials said Wednesday that Tehran has received an official US response to its newest proposal for ending the seven-month war, days after President Donald Trump publicly rejected an earlier Iranian offer.

Officials did not say what the response contained or whether it amounted to a rejection. According to government spokesperson Fatemeh MoHajjerani, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented the US reply to President Masoud Pezeshkian during a Cabinet meeting, as reported by the state-run IRNA news agency.

“We will make every effort to bring the agreement to fruition and will firmly stand up for the rights of the Iranian people,” Pezeshkian said. “The agreement must now be based on a win-win strategy.”

The Cabinet session came after Araghchi returned to Iran from New York, where he took part in indirect talks with US officials during the UN General Assembly and met with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on the sidelines of the event.

Araghchi briefed Cabinet members on his New York visit, including Iran’s stated conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which MoHajjerani said had been conveyed through mediators.

Last week, Araghchi said Iran proposed reopening the strait within a week if the United States agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian assets, and ease sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions.

Trump quickly dismissed the proposal, saying Iran sought a deal because it was “losing so badly” but that its offer “would not be acceptable.” Even so, mediators continued working with both sides in an effort to reach an agreement that would end the fighting and open the strait, according to officials familiar with the talks who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Tuesday targeting individuals and companies worldwide accused of serving as financial facilitators or enablers of Iran’s military supply chain.

The move is part of the Trump administration’s “Operation Economic Outcast” campaign, which aims to cut off “critical financial lifelines” for the already heavily sanctioned Iranian government.

Ten people and entities based in Iran, Hong Kong, and Pakistan now face sanctions over allegations that they procured weapons and weapon components for Iran’s defense ministry during its seven-month war with the United States.

Iran’s economy deepens slump as currency hits new low

Iran’s economy, already under severe pressure before the conflict began, has continued to deteriorate sharply since the war started in late February.

Tehran’s currency fell to a record low on Tuesday, with traders exchanging more than 2.5 million rials for one US dollar, a stark sign of how the Middle East conflict has steadily weakened Iran’s economy.

The latest drop came just 27 days after the rial reached its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on Sept. 2. The currency has repeatedly set new lows since the war began in February.

On Wednesday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the US would “blow them up” if Washington and Tehran do not reach a deal soon.

“It’s going to end very soon, one way or the other,” Trump said.

When the conflict first began, he predicted it would last only weeks. More recently, he said he expected it would not end before the US midterm elections on Nov. 3.

Medicine prices surge in Iran amid blockade and sanctions

Medication prices in Iran have risen sharply, and some treatments have become difficult to find, leaving patients and families struggling as a US blockade and intensified sanctions squeeze the country’s pharmaceutical sector.

Some medicines have more than tripled in price, further squeezing household finances seven months into the war between Iran, the United States, and Israel. Prices for food and other goods have also risen sharply, while unemployment has increased and the currency has lost roughly half its value after hitting a record low this week.

The conflict has become a test of economic endurance. Iran has attempted to push global energy prices higher through attacks on regional oil shipping routes, while the United States has sought to undermine Iran’s economy by blockading its ports since June and imposing increasingly severe sanctions.

Two men executed in Iran over January protest violence

Two men were executed in Iran on Wednesday over their roles in violence during nationwide anti-government protests in January, state media reported.

IRNA, citing the judiciary, said the men took part in unrest in the northeastern city of Mashhad that left four members of the security forces dead earlier this year. Their death sentences were upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court before being carried out Wednesday morning.

The protests began on Dec. 28 amid anger over the collapsing currency and worsening economic conditions and quickly spread across the country, with demonstrators increasingly demanding the fall of the Islamic Republic. Iranian authorities responded with a violent crackdown.

Human rights groups say thousands of people were killed and tens of thousands were arrested, while Iranian authorities have reported a much lower death toll.

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