DUBAI/TEL AVIV/ISLAMABAD/TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said late Wednesday that the US proposal to end the war was being reviewed by top authorities in Tehran, but the exchange of messages through mediators “does not mean negotiations with the US”.
He told Iran’s state TV in an interview that Tehran has no intention to hold talks with the US. He said the US is sending messages through different mediators, adding that Iran is not seeking war, and it wants a permanent end to conflict and compensation for destructions. He further said the US has failed to protect regional countries despite having bases in the region.
He also stressed that Tehran will not engage in discussions under coercion or threat. He said Iran has shown the world that “no country can threaten its security.”He urged neighbouring states to distance themselves from the US and asserted that Washington has failed to achieve its war goals, including a quick victory or regime change in Iran.
Earlier, Press TV citing a senior official who outlined five conditions for ending the conflict, stated Tehran has rejected a US peace proposal. The Trump administration is attempting to convene a meeting in Islamabad, including Vice President JD Vance, to explore an off-ramp from the war, though the final schedule and participants are yet to be confirmed.
The Trump administration officials are working to arrange a meeting in Pakistan this weekend, two senior administration officials told CNN. The current plans have Vice President JD Vance traveling to the country, and possibly other top administration officials. But the officials cautioned that the timing of the expected trip is fluid, as is the location and who may attend.
Turkiye has also arisen as a potential location for the talks, two sources familiar with the matter said, as some officials raised security concerns about a Pakistan visit. Talks regarding the trip are expected to continue at the White House today, one of the officials said.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi also confirmed the United States and Iran are expected to hold negotiations covering issues “broader in scope” in Islamabad this weekend. The discussions are expected to cover missiles, Iran-aligned militias and security guarantees for Tehran, Turkiye’s Anadolu Agency reported, citing Grossi’s interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. He added: “This time, there will also be missiles, militias allied with the Islamic Republic, security guarantees for Iran on the table.” Grossi suggested that a temporary resolution could be achievable, stressing that military options should be avoided. “There are alternative diplomatic plans that would allow both a solution that says that at the moment there will be no more enrichment because the political, military, and trust situation does not allow it; and, in principle, to reassess the issue in five or ten years’ time,” he added.
Israeli media reported that the US and Israel have granted temporary immunity for Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. The immunity granted is valid at least for the entire five days of negotiations.
Earlier, the Iranian officials said: “Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met.” According to Press TV, the unnamed official outlined five key conditions for ending the conflict. These include a complete halt to what was described as “aggression and assassinations” by the enemy, as well as the establishment of concrete mechanisms to ensure that war is not reimposed on the Islamic Republic. The conditions also call for guaranteed and clearly defined payment of war damages and reparations, and the conclusion of the war across all fronts, including for all resistance groups involved throughout the region.
In addition, the official demanded international recognition and guarantees regarding Iran’s sovereign right to exercise authority over the Strait of Hormuz.The report further stated that Washington has been pursuing talks through various diplomatic channels, but Tehran considers the proposals to be “excessive”.
Before this, Iranian officials publicly poured withering scorn on the prospect of any negotiations with the administration of President Donald Trump. But an apparent delay in delivering a formal response to Pakistan, which delivered a 15-point proposal on behalf of Washington, appeared to signal that at least some figures in Tehran may be considering it.
A senior Pakistani security official said that Pakistan had followed up with Iran’s foreign minister and was still awaiting a formal reply.A second Pakistani source said: “The Iranians told us they will get back to us tonight. The media is reporting they’ve said no. But we have not received any official confirmation from Iran. So we are just waiting. They are all underground and communication is big challenge.”
The senior Pakistani security official said Pakistani intelligence had delivered the US proposal to Iran, and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had followed up with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. So far there had been no response from the Iranians, or any confirmed dates or venue for talks, the Pakistani official said. Another senior Iranian official had earlier confirmed that Tehran had received a proposal and said that talks, if they went ahead, could be held in either Pakistan or Turkiye.
The White House said it was still in talks with Iran -- but warned President Donald Trump is ready to “unleash hell” if there is no deal. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that negotiations with Iran had hit a dead end. “Talks continue. They are productive,” Leavitt told a briefing when asked about the Iranian report. Leavitt said that there were “elements of truth” to media reports on the details of a 15-point US plan setting out demands on Tehran, but said some of the reporting was “not entirely factual.”
The spokeswoman also declined to confirm reports that top US officials including Vice President JD Vance were set to hold talks with the Iranians in Pakistan, which has emerged as a key mediator.
But Leavitt warned that it was time for Iran to make a deal, asserting that Trump was nearing what the White House says are the key US military objectives of Operation Epic Fury. “If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” Leavitt said. “President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again.”
Iran’s powerful parliament speaker warned about the possible invasion of an Iranian island with the support of an unnamed regional country. “Based on some intelligence reports, Iran’s enemies are preparing to occupy one of the Iranian islands with support from one of the regional states,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote in an X post written in both Persian and Arabic.
“Our forces are monitoring all enemy movements, and if they take any step, all the vital infrastructure of that regional state will be targeted with relentless, unceasing attacks.”Earlier, an unnamed Iranian military official told local media that Iran would target shipping in the Red Sea in the event of a ground invasion, which would dramatically widen the conflict and disrupt global trade.
Three Israeli cabinet sources said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet had been briefed on the US proposal. They said its terms included removing Iran’s stocks of highly enriched uranium, halting enrichment, curbing its ballistic missile programme and ending funding for regional allies.
A senior Israeli defence official said Israel was skeptical Iran would agree to the terms, and that Israel was concerned that US negotiators might make concessions in any talks.A source familiar with Israel’s war plans said Israel wanted any US-Iranian agreement to preserve Israel’s option to conduct pre-emptive strikes. The source said, “The maximum Iran might be willing to give does not meet the minimum the US is demanding.” It added that Israel views several elements of the US framework as “positive and good for Israel” – in particular those regarding Iran’s nuclear programme and the activities of its regional proxies. Israeli defense minister Israel Katz and the IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir have approved additional targets in Iran, according to a statement from Katz’s office. An Israeli military source told CNN that operational planning continues as scheduled and there has been no change in the US-Israeli military campaign, despite the US diplomatic statements.
While Washington has signalled a diplomatic off-ramp from its war with Iran, Israel is preparing for the opposite in Lebanon -- an open-ended military campaign against Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s forces were expanding a “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon intended to protect northern Israel.
Trump said early in the war that it would end only with Tehran’s “unconditional surrender”, but has abruptly changed tack this week, saying “productive” talks were already under way with unspecified Iranian officials. His softer stance has brought a respite in financial markets, which have see-sawed but largely stabilised since Monday when he postponed a threat to escalate the bombing by attacking Iran’s civilian energy system. Iran has derided Trump’s announcement as an attempt to buy time and placate markets.
Oil prices tumbled and stock markets rallied on reports that the United States had sent a peace plan to Iran. Crude futures plunged more than six percent before barely creeping back -- with Brent back just below $100.
The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said he was “ready to move forward” with an additional release of oil reserves “if and when necessary”.
Wall Street moved cautiously into the green in early trading with the Dow up 0.6 percent at 46,425.14 points. The broader-based S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq had added just shy of one percent. In Europe, London, Frankfurt and Paris were all up north of one percent some two hours from the close. Asian markets closed with strong gains, led by Tokyo, which won nearly three percent.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned: The “world is staring down the barrel of a wider war” in the region.”It is time to stop climbing the escalation ladder – and start climbing the diplomatic ladder,” he said at the U.N. headquarters in New York.
In a related development, US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said the United States is “wrapping up” its war with Iran. Johnson told US media in Washington DC, “I think we’re wrapping up Operation Epic Fury. That’s what I think. And I think it’ll be done in short order and that’ll be right on schedule.”
The Pentagon is meanwhile planning to send thousands of airborne troops to the Gulf to give Trump more options to order a ground assault, sources have told Reuters, adding to two contingents of Marines already on their way. The first Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard a huge amphibious assault ship could arrive around the end of the month.
The spokesperson for Iran’s joint military command, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, taunted Trump in comments on Iranian state TV, saying “Has the level of your inner struggle reached the stage of you negotiating with yourself?” “People like us can never get along with people like you,” he said. “As we have always said... no one like us will make a deal with you. Not now. Not ever.” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Beghaei, appearing on television in India, said nuclear talks had already been under way when Trump attacked. He called this “a betrayal of diplomacy” that proved further talks were pointless. There are “no talks or negotiations between Iran and the United States,” he said. “No one can trust United States diplomacy.”
The war has raged on with no let-up in air attacks against Iran, or in Iranian drone and missile strikes against Israel and U.S. allies. Drones struck a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, the country’s civil aviation authority said. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia said they had repelled new drone attacks. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had launched new attacks against Israel and U.S. bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain. In another development, a joint statement by Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan called on Iraq to take the necessary measures to immediately stop attacks launched against neighbouring countries from Iraqi territory. The statement said the call comes to preserve “brotherly relations” and avoid further escalations. Since the start of the Israeli-U.S. war on Iran, Iran-backed Iraqi militias have claimed responsibility for attacks on several U.S. bases in the region. Meanwhile, multiple vessels passed through the strait since yesterday morning, tracking data appears to show, as Iran says it will charge countries a fee for safe passage.
