WASHINGTON, SEP 26: US President Donald Trump said Saturday that he had rejected a plan proposed by Iran on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran says would have opened the waterway within seven days.

“I reject their proposal,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.

“They want to make a deal where they open the Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” he said. “They want to make a deal and I think that’s fine. I like making a deal too.”

Meanwhile, Trump informed his negotiating team that there would be no return to the memorandum of understanding with Iran, a US source told Al Arabiya English.

The source said Trump told his team that Iranian negotiators are not decision makers, adding that the American leader believes that economic pressure is more effective than reaching an agreement with Iran on its current terms.

The US president also believes lifting economic sanctions on Iran would give Tehran an opportunity to maneuver, the source said.