Iranian news agencies affiliated with the regime published new details Saturday night about Tehran’s proposal to the United States for ending the war. The details indicate that Iran has not given up on ending the naval blockade and has not softened any element of the 10-point plan it previously presented.
U.S. President Donald Trump wrote overnight on Truth Social that he would soon review Iran’s new proposal to end the war. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years,” he wrote. Earlier, when asked by reporters about a possible resumption of strikes on the Islamic Republic, Trump replied: “There is a possibility that could happen.”
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US President Donald Trump and Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei
(Photos: Anna Moneymaker/AFP, CENTCOM, Shutterstock)
According to the report, Tehran is demanding, among other things, guarantees for ending the war, the removal of all U.S. military forces from its vicinity, an end to the naval blockade, the release of its frozen assets and compensation payments. The Iranians are also demanding the lifting of sanctions, an end to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and the creation of a new mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz — one controlled by Iran. “The next stage: Iran is waiting for the official American response,” the regime-affiliated agencies reported.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that “the U.S. requested in its proposal a two-month ceasefire, but Iran emphasized that the issues must be resolved within 30 days and that, instead of extending the ceasefire, the focus should be on ending the war.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday night, Trump repeated his claim that the Iranians want to make a deal. But he qualified that by saying Tehran may never agree to a negotiated settlement to end the war: “They have come a long way, but I’m not sure they’ll ever get there.” The president again claimed there is a “huge split” within Iran’s leadership: “They have two or three groups, maybe four, and it is a very fractured leadership. They all want to make a deal, but they are in chaos.”
Trump's statement on war with Iran
(Video: Reuters)
Trump also laid out the two options before him, in his distinctive style: “There are options. Do we want to bomb the hell out of them and finish them off? Or do we want to try to make an agreement. Those are the options.” He added that his preference is not to renew the strikes, and confirmed that he was briefed on the military options by the commander of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper.
Cooper visited sailors and Marines Saturday aboard the USS Tripoli in the Arabian Sea. U.S. Central Command said he spoke with crew members and toured several areas of the ship, including the combat information center.
Israel is watching, preparing
Israel is following the talks over the agreement and preparing for all possibilities, including an immediate resumption of fighting between Washington and Tehran if the negotiations collapse. If the Americans renew strikes, it will be done together and in coordination with Israel, which has prepared a series of infrastructure and energy targets, along with military targets added since the ceasefire.
Alongside the contacts with Iran, tensions continue on the northern front amid limits on IDF activity in Lebanon. This follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu avoid broad strikes and make do with surgical operations only, a demand drawing harsh criticism from Cabinet ministers who say “Israel’s hands are tied.”
As for a Netanyahu-Aoun summit, the assessment is that it will not take place before Trump’s planned visit to China on May 12. At this stage there are no final understandings, and according to reports, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is so far refusing to meet Netanyahu. Asked about it, Trump said the meeting would take place soon.