Trump says reviewing new Tehran proposal with doubt

US President Donald Trump has said he "can't imagine" the proposal is acceptable.

Tehran said the "ball is in the US' court" to choose whether to pursue diplomacy or confrontation.

DW has more.

Here is a roundup of the latest developments around the war in Iran and the wider Middle East on Sunday, May 3, 2026.

US says it is 'suffocating' Iranian regime
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US was "suffocating" Iran's leadership through its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which continues to be closed by Tehran.

"We are suffocating the regime, and they are not able to pay their soldiers.

This is a real economic blockade, and it is in all parts of government all hands on deck," he told US broadcaster Fox News.

Bessent also said the Treasury Department was targeting Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) by imposing economic measures on "on anyone trying to remit money into Iran to help the IRGC."
"They are a corrupt institution.

They have been stealing from the Iranian people for years.

They have money offshore.

We have tracked that down.

We will continue to track that down, and we are going to preserve those assets for the Iranian people on the other side of this conflict," Bessent said.

"Oil ​prices on the other side ​of this conflict are ⁠going ​to be ​much lower," ​Bessent told Fox News.

US gas prices soar as Iran standoff fuels oil market fears
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Iran must reopen Hormuz 'immediately,' says Wadephul
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul repeated a call for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz , whose closure has blocked oil exports from much of the Middle East for several weeks.

After a phone call with Abbas Araghchi, his Iranian counterpart, Wadephul wrote on X that Iran must also abandon its nuclear ambitions.

In the current standoff between Washington and Tehran, US President Donald Trump has expressed skepticism about Iran's latest 14-point peace proposal .

The Islamic Republic is pushing for an end to the US naval blockade of Hormuz, which is blocking its own oil exports, as well as US sanctions on its nuclear program.

Only then will Iran reopen the strait, the proposal says.

WATCH: What are the sticking points in US-Iran peace negotiations?

Two full months since the US and Israel started a war with Iran, the missiles have stopped raining down but negotiations to resolve the conflict are going nowhere fast.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards reject Trump pressure over peace deal
Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned US President Donald Trump that he faced a choice between an "impossible" military operation or a "bad deal" with the Islamic Republic.

The comments come after Trump said he was not satisfied with Iran's latest proposals and threatened to "blast the hell out of them and finish them forever."
In a statement carried by Iran state television, the Guards' intelligence organization said that the United States must choose between "an impossible operation or a bad deal."
It cited what it described as a "shift in tone" from China, Russia, and Europe towards Washington as well as what it called an Iranian "deadline" over the US naval blockade.

Citing two sources briefed on Iran's proposal, US media outlet Axios reported that Tehran had set a one-month deadline for negotiations on a deal.

The goals are to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the US naval blockade and permanently end the wars in Iran and in Lebanon.

Hezbollah lawmaker warns it can thwart peace deal
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the Iran-backed group could "thwart" the objectives of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel .

His comments, at an event to honor killed Hezbollah fighters, come as both countries attempt to end the current war between Israel and Hezbollah and address long-standing issues.

"We have a free people and a steadfast resistance capable of thwarting all the objectives of these negotiations, which increase the sharp division in the country between the factions of our people and within the state itself," Fadlallah said.

Lebanon and Israel's US ambassadors have held two meetings in Washington in recent weeks, the first of their kind in decades.

Hezbollah has strongly rejected the talks.

Israel has maintained deadly strikes on Lebanon despite an April 17 ceasefire , which sought to halt more than six weeks of war.

Israel greenlights fighter jet deal to boost air power
Israel has approved the purchase of around 50 advanced fighter jets from the United States , significantly expanding its air superiority capabilities.

The deal includes one full squadron of F-35I Adir multi-role stealth fighters — among the world’s most advanced combat aircraft — produced by Lockheed Martin, as well as one squadron of F-15IA strike fighters from Boeing.

In a statement, Defense Minister Israel Katz said: “Our mission is clear: to ensure the IDF has the tools, capabilities and strength to operate anywhere, at any time.

Israel has used its existing F-35I Adir stealth fighters extensively in both the Gaza and Iran wars .

The planes have become one of the Israeli Air Force’s most valuable assets for striking Iranian targets, including suppressing air defenses and identifying deep targets.

Iran to turn university bombed site into museum
The Isfahan University of Technology in central Iran will turn a bombed site on its grounds into a museum about the conflict, an official said.

The university was heavily bombed by US-Israeli strikes in March.

"The current damaged site will be preserved as a war museum at the university to remain a document of the country's scientific oppression in history," said the university's chief, Zafarollah Kalantari.

The official IRNA news agency cited him as saying that other land had been allocated for the "construction of a new building and provision of advanced equipment" for the university.

Damage to the university's buildings and facilities from the bombing was around $11 million, Kalantari said.

More than 30 universities, including those in the capital, Tehran, have been targeted, according to Iranian officials.

Israel orders evacuation of several towns in southern Lebanon
Israel's military warned residents of several towns and villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate as it prepared fresh strikes across the area, despite a truce between the two countries.

The military said it was carrying out operations against Iran -backed Hezbollah that it said was  violating the ceasefire agreement .

Eleven villages and towns were covered by the warning, including several in Nabatieh, a district north of the Litani River.

Israeli troops are occupying a strip of southern Lebanon, to the south of the river.

Lebanese media later reported Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon, including towns not advised to evacuate.

Strikes in Lebanon raise questions over attacks on medics
Jailed Nobel winner Narges Mohammadi at 'very high risk,' her family says
The health of imprisoned Iranian rights lawyer Narges Mohammadi was at "very high risk," her foundation and family said.

Mohammadi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in her early 50s, was urgently transferred to a hospital in Zanjan in Iran's northwest on Friday after a cardiac crisis and fainting.

Her family has said her health had been in decline, owing it partly to a beating she received during her December arrest.

Medical teams in Zanjan have requested her records before performing any treatment, her foundation said, adding that transferring her to Tehran was their recommendation.

Unbreakable - My fight for freedom in Iran
Israel strikes parts of southern Lebanon
Israel carried out strikes across southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing several, according to the Lebanese state-run news agency.

The Israeli military said it hit dozens of Hezbollah targets.

The attacks have become a regular occurrence, despite a fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

The ceasefire text grants Israel the right to act against what it calls "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks."
Both sides have regularly accused each other of ceasefire violations.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, claimed several attacks targeting Israeli troops.

The Shiite militant group drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 in support of its backer Iran.

Israeli strikes have since killed more than 2,600 people in Lebanon and displaced over a million.

Iran says 'ball in US' court' to end conflict
Iran said Saturday that it was up to the Trump administration to decide whether to pursue a negotiated settlement or to return to open war .

"Now the ball is in the United States' court to choose the path of diplomacy or the continuation of a confrontational approach," Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told diplomats in Tehran, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

"Iran, with the aim of securing its national interests and security, is prepared for both paths," he said.

At the same time, Mohammad Jafar Asadi, a senior figure in the Iranian military's central command, said "a renewed conflict between Iran and the United States is likely."
"Evidence has shown that the United States is not committed to any promises or agreements," Iran's Fars news agency quoted him as saying.

Iran defies US pressure over nuclear, missile plans
Trump says reviewing new proposal from Iran
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he was reviewing a new Iranian proposal to end the war.

"I'll let you know about it later," he told reporters, adding that "they're going to give me the exact wording now."
Shortly afterward, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he "can't imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years."
Trump's statement came after he had rejected a previous Iranian proposal earlier this week.

US, Iran peace talks stall as Hormuz shipping backlog widens
Hello and thanks for joining us for the latest updates on the Middle East conflict.

After he rejected an Iranian proposal to end the war earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said he was reviewing a new proposal put forward by Tehran.

While Iran’s deputy foreign minister said it’s up to Washington to decide whether to pursue the path of diplomacy or continued confrontation with Tehran, a senior Iranian military official warned renewed hostilities between Iran and the US are “likely.”
Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes across southern Lebanon, saying it hit dozens of Hezbollah targets.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest on the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on the global economy.