Iran delivered a new proposal for peace talks with the US via mediator Pakistan, state media reported on Friday, with negotiations between the two sides frozen despite a weeks-long ceasefire.
The text of the proposal was handed to Islamabad on Thursday evening, the IRNA news agency reported.
The war, launched by the United States and Israel with a vast wave of surprise strikes on February 28 has been on hold since April 8, but only one failed round of direct talks has taken place between Iranian and US representatives.
The White House meanwhile, declined to comment on a new proposal from Iran for talks to end the war, saying only that discussions continue.
"We do not detail private diplomatic conversations", deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement.
"President (Donald) Trump has been clear that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon and negotiations continue to ensure the short- and long-term national security of the United States".
Iran delivered the new proposal on Thursday evening for talks with the United States via mediator Pakistan, the state news agency IRNA reported earlier, giving no details.
In the meantime, Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off vast amounts of oil, gas and fertiliser from the world economy, while the United States has imposed a counterblockade on Iranian ports.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that US President Donald Trump had told security officials to prepare for the blockade to last months, causing oil prices to spike.
Despite the failure to negotiate an end to the war, the ceasefire has held.
On Friday, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, a senior figure and well-respected cleric, said "the Islamic Republic has never shied away from negotiations".
But in yet another sign that finding a compromise may prove difficult, Ejei said "we certainly do not accept imposition", in a video shared by the judiciary's Mizan Online website.
Tehran, though, does not want a return to war he said.
"We do not welcome war in any way; we do not want war, we do not want its continuation".
The lack of fighting has not assuaged markets, with oil prices still more than 50 per cent above their prewar levels as traders confront a prolonged closure of Hormuz, while the European Central Bank held interest rates amidst fears of soaring inflation. — AFP
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