President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was rejecting Iran's proposal for a seven-day ceasefire to open the Strait of Hormuz and pave the way for new peace talks, but Araghchi said the United States has yet to provide a formal response through mediators.
"We are fully prepared for the war to resume. We stand firm in the face of any new aggression, even if it leads to a war of annihilation," Araghchi told NBC on Sunday, adding:
At the same time, we stand ready for diplomacy.
According to Iran's proposal for a week-long ceasefire, the Strait of Hormuz would have been opened in exchange for, among other things, the US lifting the naval blockade of Iranian ports, lifting sanctions on Iranian oil, and releasing frozen assets.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said in an interview with NBC earlier on Sunday that Iran's latest offer was rejected for "a number of reasons" and that the US cannot give Iran access to "billions in frozen assets."
"I see this as a rather cynical attempt to put something on the table that they knew was unacceptable," Waltz says.
Both Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Abbas Araghchi have been in New York in recent days in connection with the opening of the UN General Assembly.
