Iran has submitted a 14-point response to a U.S. proposal to end the conflict that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency and state-owned Press TV.
Key points of the plan include a demand to resolve all issues and end the war within 30 days, instead of observing a two-month ceasefire as the U.S. had proposed.
Other demands include guarantees against future military aggression, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iran’s periphery, an end to the naval blockade, the release of frozen Iranian assets, payment of reparations, the lifting of sanctions, an end to fighting in Lebanon, and a new mechanism governing the Strait of Hormuz.
A senior Iranian official said the proposal would open shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. blockade of Iran, while leaving talks on Iran’s nuclear program for a later stage, a move Tehran described as a significant shift aimed at facilitating an agreement.
Trump said he had been told about the concept of the deal and was waiting for the exact wording, but added he “can’t imagine that it would be acceptable,” while warning strikes could resume if Iran “misbehaves.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps separately announced a 30-day deadline for the U.S. military to end its blockade of ports, warning that Trump “must choose between an impossible military operation or a bad deal.”
The war has caused the biggest disruption ever to global energy supplies, roiled global markets, and raised worries about a wider global economic downturn.
Iran has been blocking nearly all shipping from the Gulf apart from its own for more than two months, while last month the U.S. imposed its own blockade of ships from Iranian ports.
Iran’s parliament is also poised to approve a law placing restrictions on which vessels are allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Under the proposed measure, Israeli vessels would never be allowed through, while ships from “hostile countries” would be required to pay war reparations to obtain a transit permit.
Diplomatic efforts continue through Pakistani mediators as both sides maintain military readiness in the region.