Iran answers Trump’s rejection with wave of attacks in Hormuz: cruise missiles and drones hit ships ‘violating’ the closure

Iran launched on Saturday evening a wave of cruise-missile and drone attacks against ships in the Strait of Hormuz, hitting several vessels believed to be violating the closure imposed by Tehran, as The Times reports citing Iranian state media. The attacks came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected the Iranian proposal to reopen the strait within seven days and resume peace talks.

“I reject their proposal,” Trump told reporters on Saturday evening as he boarded the Marine One helicopter, according to The Times. After a week of meetings and mediation at the UN General Assembly, Iranian officials had delivered to the American side, through mediators, a proposal: a halt to the fighting, reopening of the strait within a week and the launch of negotiations on the nuclear program — if the U.S. would end the naval blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen assets and lift sanctions on Iranian oil.

Also on Saturday, Trump posted on Truth Social an image of the Gulf labeled “Trump Strait” and then rejected the deal, saying the Iranians want an agreement “because they’re losing badly,” The Times writes. The Wall Street Journal reported the president privately told aides he expects to resume the bombing campaign against Iran after November’s midterm elections, although the White House has denied reports of munition shortages.

The new escalation strikes at the heart of global energy markets: around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and each new attack on merchant ships deepens supply uncertainty. Iran closed the strait after the U.S. and Israel struck the Islamic Republic in late February, and since then maritime traffic has fallen sharply due to Iranian threats and attacks on ships.

Meanwhile diplomacy appears blocked. As Reuters reported, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted on Sunday that only diplomacy can resolve the conflict, but Tehran is still waiting for mediators to formally convey Washington’s final position.