New York, Sept. 28 -- The US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz on Sunday (local time) said that the United States rejected Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz because Tehran sought sanctions relief and access to "billions in frozen assets" before negotiations on its nuclear programme.

"They were asking for everything up front, with a promise that they would then talk," Waltz said on CNN's "State of the Union" when asked what US President Donald Trump objected to.

In a separate interview on NBC's "Meet the Press", Waltz called the proposal "a pretty cynical attempt to put something on the table that they knew was unacceptable." He said the US would ultimately need to reach "some type of agreement" with Iran, but Trum...