Iran said on Saturday that it had delivered proposals to end hostilities to the United States via Pakistan, adding the ball is now in Washington's court.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, briefed foreign ambassadors in Tehran on the proposal, the Mehr News Agency reported.

Iran always believes in diplomacy based on national interests to resolve issues, he said, noting that the decision now rests with the US to either pursue diplomacy or continue a confrontational approach. Tehran stands ready for both paths to safeguard its national interest and security, he said.

Tasnim News Agency reported on Sunday that Iran's response, conveyed through Pakistani mediation, addressed a nine-point US proposal and focused on bringing the war to an end.

According to the report, Washington had requested a two-month ceasefire. Tehran, however, said the issues should be settled within 30 days and that efforts should shift from extending a truce to "ending the war".

Iran's 14-point proposal covers issues including guarantees of nonaggression, the withdrawal of US forces from areas surrounding Iran, and the lifting of the US naval blockade, the report said.

Tehran is also seeking the release of frozen assets, compensation payments, the removal of sanctions, and an end to fighting across all fronts — including in Lebanon — alongside a new mechanism governing the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said it is awaiting a formal response from the US.

US President Donald Trump said on social media he was reviewing the proposal, but expressed doubts over its acceptability, arguing that Iran has "not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to humanity and the world over the last 47 years".

Speaking to reporters in Florida, Trump said strikes on Iran could resume. When asked on the prospect of a return to war, Trump said that if Iran "misbehaves" or does "something bad", there is a "possibility it could happen". But right now, "we'll see", he said, Al Jazeera reported.

Trump also said the US is "doing very well" in its dealings with Iran, claiming Tehran is seeking a deal because it has been "decimated". He further asserted that Iran is having a hard time "figuring out" who their leader is as former supreme leader Ali Khamenei "is gone".

On Friday, Trump bragged that the US Navy had acted "like pirates" in enforcing the blockade of Iranian ports, saying: "We took over the ship, we took over the cargo, we took over the oil. It's a very profitable business."

Meanwhile, US media reported that Washington is seeking an international coalition called the "Maritime Freedom Construct" to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Remarks criticized

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei criticized the remarks in a post on X on Sunday, urging the international community to take action.

Trump had "openly described the unlawful seizure of Iranian vessels as 'piracy', brazenly boasting that 'we act like pirates'", he said.

"This was no verbal slip. It was a direct and damning admission of the criminal nature of their actions against international maritime navigation," he said.

The international community "must firmly reject any normalization of such blatant violations of international law", he added.

Contact the writers at jan@chinadailyapac.com