Iran rejects latest ceasefire proposal as Trump deadline approaches

Iran on Monday rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and instead said it wants a permanent end to the war, even as U.S. President Donald Trump’s ultimatum loomed for progress to avoid a major escalation in attacks against power plants and bridges. “We won’t merely accept a ceasefire,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said Tehran had conveyed its response through Pakistan, a key mediator.