Iran offers US two-day ceasefire, says it will open Strait of Hormuz if its terms are met

Tensions in the Middle East have reached a new and decisive turn. Iran has put a two-day ceasefire proposal to the United States and said that if Washington accepts all its conditions for ending the war, it will open the Strait of Hormuz, the world-renowned and vital waterway. Failing that, the US military will face a devastating and large-scale military attack.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gave an exclusive interview to Iran's state media outlet IRNA on Sunday. He then made his case on the social media platform X, saying Iran's two-day proposal still stands.

Araghchi wrote on X: "American voters have given their verdict in the midterm elections. Now the White House must decide which path it wants to choose. If the US accepts our conditions for ending the war on every front, the world will see a good outcome. But if it chooses the path of war, it should be ready to face a terrible attack by our fully prepared military."

Araghchi further said that after the midterm elections in the US, a major obstacle has arisen in peace talks between the two countries. The movement of representatives of third countries acting as intermediaries has also stopped completely. According to him, the election results have caused political turmoil in the US administration.

Iran has said it has removed all the shortcomings in its military and tested new, state-of-the-art weapons. It claims it is fully prepared for either situation, whether the US chooses diplomacy or military action.

The US has responded just as sharply to Iran's ultimatum. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the proposal while speaking to reporters in Florida. Before leaving for the G-7 meeting in France, he said Iran's demands could not be accepted under any circumstances.

Rubio said several mediating countries are trying to broker peace between the two nations, but for now there appears to be no room for an agreement. According to him, President Donald Trump wants to resolve the dispute through diplomacy, but the conditions Iran is setting are completely impractical and laughable.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said in an interview with CNN that if the peace talks move in the right direction, there will be no need to launch missile or military strikes on Iran again. All of this depends on whether Iran signs a strong and legally binding agreement.

Commenting on Iran's economy, Trump said inflation there is currently a massive 301 per cent and that the country has become extremely weak, both militarily and economically. He said the US military could destroy Iran completely if needed. According to Trump, the US military is ready to launch a major attack on Iran at any moment, and the US is building weapons more powerful than before.

After the Republican Party's setback in the US midterm elections, the Trump administration appears to be taking a somewhat softer line on the war. Vice-President J.D. Vance had also blamed the economic impact of the Iran war on American citizens for the election defeat. Trump has also acknowledged this, but has still kept with himself the authority to take military action for national security.

Meanwhile, Iran has sent the US a confidential proposal on its nuclear programme through Qatari mediation. Reports say Iran has set out seven key conditions for resuming peace talks. In the present circumstances, agreement between the two countries looks difficult, and if the Strait of Hormuz is closed, it is feared that the impact on the world's crude oil supply and economy would be severe.