Iran gets US response as mediators push seven-month war deal

Iran said it received an official US response to its latest proposal to end the war. The exchange unfolded as sanctions, economic distress and domestic unrest deepened pressure on Tehran.Image used for representational purposes onlyDubai,Oct 1, 2026 06:44 ISTIran said on Wednesday that it had received an official US response to Tehran's latest proposal to end the seven-month war, days after US President Donald Trump publicly rejected the offer. Iranian officials did not say what the response contained or whether it amounted to a rejection.The development came amid fresh US sanctions, a further slide in Iran's currency, rising medicine prices and the execution of two men over violence during anti-government protests earlier this year.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented the US response to President Masoud Pezeshkian at a Cabinet meeting, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told the state-run IRNA news agency. Pezeshkian said, "We will make every effort to bring the agreement to fruition and will firmly stand up for the rights of the Iranian people." He added, "The agreement must now be based on a win-win strategy."The Cabinet meeting followed Araghchi's return from New York after last week's UN General Assembly, where officials held indirect talks with US officials and also met Qatari and Pakistani mediators on the sidelines of the annual gathering. Mohajerani said Araghchi briefed the Cabinet on his trip and on Iran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which had been conveyed through mediators. Araghchi said last week that he had proposed reopening the strait within a week if the US agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions. Trump swiftly rejected the proposal, saying Iran wanted to make a deal because it was "losing so badly" but that its offer "would not be acceptable." Even so, officials not authorised to comment publicly said mediators continued trying to broker a deal to end the fighting and reopen the strait.Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Tuesday targeting people and companies in Iran, Hong Kong and Pakistan that it accused of helping Iran's military supply chain. The Trump administration said the move was part of its "Operation Economic Outcast" campaign to cut off "critical financial lifelines" for the Iranian government. Ten people and entities now face sanctions over accusations of procuring weapons and weapon components for Iran's defence ministry as it fights its now seven-month war against the US. Iran's economy, which was already under strain before the war began, has fallen further since the conflict started in late February. On Tuesday, traders in Tehran were exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the US dollar, a record low after the currency had hit 2.2 million to the dollar on September 2. On Wednesday, Trump said in an Oval Office exchange that the US would "blow them up" if a deal was not reached soon. "It's going to end very soon, one way or the other," he said. At the start of the conflict, Trump had said the war would last only weeks. More recently, he said he expected it would not end until after the November 3 US midterm elections.The economic pressure has also hit medicine supplies. Prices of some medicines have more than tripled and some treatments have become hard to find as a US blockade and tougher sanctions squeeze Iran's pharmaceutical industry. Food and other goods have also become far more expensive, unemployment has risen and the currency has lost half its value. The war has become an economic endurance test, with Iran trying to push world energy prices higher through attacks on oil shipping routes in the region, while the US has sought to damage Iran's economy by blockading its ports since June and tightening sanctions.Separately, IRNA reported that two men were executed on Wednesday over their role in violence during nationwide anti-government protests in January. Citing the judiciary, the agency said the men took part in unrest in the northeastern city of Mashhad that left four members of the security forces dead. Their death sentences were upheld by Iran's Supreme Court before being carried out on Wednesday morning.The unrest began on December 28 amid anger over Iran's collapsing currency and worsening economy and quickly spread across the country, with demonstrators increasingly calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. Iranian authorities responded with a deadly crackdown. Rights groups say thousands were killed and tens of thousands were arrested, while Iranian authorities have reported a much lower death toll. Overall, Iran said it had received a US response to its proposal as indirect contacts continued, even as sanctions, economic stress and domestic tensions deepened.With PTI Inputs- Ends