US President Donald Trump and Iran have reportedly rejected each other's latest peace proposal to end the 10-week conflict, raising concerns about the stability of the fragile ceasefire.
Trump described Iran's latest response to the US peace proposal as unacceptable, causing the US dollar to continue to strengthen against other major currencies following increased cautious sentiment in global markets.
Previously, Iran had reportedly offered to transfer some of its highly enriched uranium stockpile to a third country, but rejected the proposal to dismantle its nuclear facilities. However, the report was denied by Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.
In the latest proposal, Iran is said to be willing to melt some of its highly enriched uranium and send the rest to a third country as part of an effort to ease tensions. However, Tehran also demanded guarantees that the uranium would be returned if the talks fail.
Iran also insisted that its nuclear facilities would not be dismantled and continued to reject any conditions that were seen as affecting the country's sovereignty.
Iranian media also reported that Tehran wants the war to end immediately, as well as demanding the release of frozen state assets, the lifting of US sanctions on oil sales and an end to the maritime blockade in the Gulf of Oman.
At the same time, Iran also insisted that the management of the Strait of Hormuz must be returned to its full control, and claimed that the US must pay war reparations as part of the conditions for resolving the conflict.
Trump had previously suggested that Iran allow trade routes in the Strait of Hormuz to reopen, while Washington was ready to end the blockade of Iranian ports next month before nuclear talks resumed.
However, the exchange of proposals between the two sides has so far failed to show any clear signs of a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The ongoing tension caused crude oil prices to surge again, with Brent rising around 3.5% to above $104 a barrel after Trump rejected Iran's latest proposal.
At the same time, US equity index futures also recorded a small decline as risk sentiment returned to haunt global markets.
