Published on
Iran rejected on Wednesday a US plan to pause the war and launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf countries, including an assault that sparked a huge fire at Kuwait International Airport.
Iranian state-run television’s English-language broadcaster, Press TV, quoted an anonymous official as saying Tehran rejected Washington’s 15-point proposal.
“Iran has responded negatively to an American proposal aimed at ending the ongoing imposed war,” the official said.
“The end of the war will occur when Iran decides it should end, not when (US President Donald) Trump envisions its conclusion.”
Earlier, two officials from Pakistan described the proposal broadly, saying it addressed sanctions relief, a rollback of Iran’s nuclear programme, limits on missiles, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped.
An Egyptian official involved in mediation efforts called it a “comprehensive deal” and said it also includes restrictions on Iran’s support for armed groups.
Mediators are pushing for possible in-person talks between Iran and the US, perhaps as soon as Friday in Pakistan, the Egyptian and Pakistani officials said.
Trump has said the US is “in negotiations right now” and that the participants included special envoy Steve Witkoff, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.
He has not disclosed who from Iran they are in contact with, but said that “the other side, I can tell you, they’d like to make a deal.”
Iran’s counterproposal
Press TV presented the regime’s own five-point plan from the official who rejected the US proposal.
It included a halt to killings of its officials, means to make sure no other war is waged against it, reparations for the war, the end of hostilities and Iran’s “exercise of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.”
Those measures, particularly reparations and the continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, will likely be unacceptable to the White House as energy supplies worldwide remain affected by the war.
Any talks between the US and Iran would face monumental challenges, and it is also not clear who in Iran’s government has the authority to negotiate or would be willing to, as Israel has vowed to continue killing the country’s leaders.
Tehran said it remained highly cautious with the US, which launched strikes on Iran twice under the Trump administration, including with the 28 February strikes that started the current war.
“We have a very catastrophic experience with US diplomacy,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told India Today on Tuesday.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
