US proposal contains ‘unacceptable’ clauses - Tasnim

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he held “constructive talks” with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, posting the message in Chinese on X in a pointed signal of Tehran’s effort to emphasize ties with Beijing.

Araghchi said both sides reaffirmed Iran’s right to safeguard its “national sovereignty and national dignity,” and said Tehran appreciated China’s four-point proposal for upholding and promoting regional peace and stability.

He added that Iran “trusts” China and expects Beijing to continue playing a positive role in promoting peace and “stopping war,” while supporting the establishment of a new post-war regional architecture that can coordinate development and security.

Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei dismissed an Axios report about a possible agreement between Iran and the United States, saying Washington would not achieve through war what it failed to gain in negotiations.

“The Axios text is a list of American wishes rather than reality,” Rezaei wrote on X on Wednesday.

He said the United States would not obtain in “a failed war” what it could not secure in direct talks with Iran.

Rezaei also warned that Iran was ready to respond if the United States or its allies took further action.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday he remained committed to strong transatlantic relations despite disagreements with US President Donald Trump over the war involving Iran.

“We have a disagreement, but I can live with that,” Merz told broadcaster ZDF.

“I'll continue to speak my mind in the future. I'll talk it over with him,” he added.

Merz said he speaks regularly with Trump and that “a good partnership has to be able to withstand differences of opinion.”

Trump and Merz have recently exchanged criticism over efforts to end the conflict with Iran. Trump said the German leader “did not know what he was talking about” after Merz said Iran was humiliating the US in negotiations.

An Iranian news outlet linked to the country’s armed forces denied reports that Tehran had agreed to remove enriched uranium from the country as part of talks with the United States.

Defa Press, which is affiliated with the Iranian military, said on Wednesday that removing uranium from Iran had been “completely and irreversibly” ruled out in diplomacy, citing what it described as information from senior Iranian diplomatic officials.

The outlet also dismissed reports that Iran and the US had agreed on a 14-point memorandum aimed at ending the conflict between the two countries, describing them as part of a media campaign by “enemy security-linked outlets.”

The comments came after Axios reported Washington and Tehran were nearing an agreement tied to the war, sanctions and Iran’s nuclear program.

President Donald Trump said it was “too soon” to prepare for face-to-face peace talks with Iran despite reports that Washington and Tehran were nearing a framework agreement to end the war, the New York Post reported on Wednesday.

“I don’t think so,” Trump told the newspaper when asked whether preparations should begin for a possible trip to Pakistan for a peace signing ceremony.

“I think we’ll do it - it’s too far,” he added. “No, it’s too much.”

The comments came after reports that the US and Iran were moving closer to a memorandum aimed at ending the 67-day conflict.

Trump earlier said on Truth Social that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen to all shipping if Iran accepted the proposed deal, warning that otherwise US bombing would resume at greater intensity.