Iran Waits for a Formal Rejection It Says Hasn't Arrived
Iranian officials say they are aware of President Trump's comments rejecting their new proposal, but that no formal message rejecting the plan — one that would open the Strait of Hormuz — has reached them, according to Deutsche Welle. That gap between a public remark and a delivered message is carrying real weight. Treating a presidential statement as a signal rather than a decision lets Tehran keep the plan on the table without appearing to defy Washington outright, and it preserves the possibility that the same proposal could be picked up again through a normal channel. Whether this is procedural stubbornness or deliberate negotiating room, the practical effect is the same: nothing is formally closed.
AI-generated discussion · Different perspectives
A public rejection is still a rejection. Insisting on a formal note is a way to keep a plan alive on a technicality while everyone can see the answer already given.
Or it's a deliberate refusal to treat a press remark as a decision — which keeps the option open for a formal deal later, and costs nothing in the meantime.
Either reading ends in the same place: the plan stays formally pending, and the Strait stays a subject of negotiation rather than a settled no.