Iran vows to fight on as Trump calls latest peace offer "unacceptable"

Iran's Foreign Ministry said Monday that it had called for an end to the war across the region and the release of frozen Iranian assets abroad in its response to the latest U.S. peace proposal, which President Trump rejected on Sunday. "We did not demand any concessions. The only thing we demanded was Iran's legitimate rights," said ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday during a weekly briefing. He said Tehran's demands included "an end to the war in the region," ending the U.S. naval blockade of Iran's ports and vessels, and the "release of assets belonging to the Iranian people, which have for years been unjustly trapped in foreign banks." Mr. Trump on Sunday rejected the Iranian response as "totally unacceptable." "Our focus is on what is urgent," Baqaei said Monday. "What is urgent is ending war in all its forms, including in Lebanon." Baqaei said Iran was also keen to ensure "safe maritime navigation in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz" while "stopping illegal actions and acts of maritime interference by the United States against commercial vessels." Iran's approach is, he said, "very responsible and reasonable … to prioritize immediate issues and focus on resolving them, rather than discussing topics whose history shows they have, on at least two occasions, led to war." The Trump administration has insisted so far that any peace deal include a commitment by Iran to severely curb, if not completely end its nuclear enrichment program. CBS/AFP