Middle East crisis: Iran proposes 30-day plan to end war, says it has received US reply

Iran late Sunday said it had received the US response to its 14-point proposal, sent via Pakistan, that called for issues between the two countries to be resolved within 30 days and aimed to end the war rather than extend the ceasefire.


Iranian state media reported that Washington had conveyed its response to Iran’s proposal via Pakistan and that Tehran was now reviewing it. There was no immediate confirmation from either Washington or Islamabad of the US response.



“At this stage, we do not have nuclear negotiations,” state media quoted Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying, an apparent reference to Iran’s proposal to set aside talks on nuclear issues until after the war ends. Iran’s 14-point proposal called for the US lifting sanctions, ending its naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdrawing forces from the region and ceasing all hostilities, including Israel’s operations in Lebanon, say officials.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said he was reviewing the proposal but doubted it would lead to a deal, adding on social media “they (Iran) have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years” since the Islamic Revolution there. Meanwhile, a cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz was attacked by multiple small craft.

Iran proposes end to war in 30 days

Iran’s latest proposal to the US called for issues between the countries to be resolved within 30 days and aimed to end the war rather than extend the ceasefire, according to Iran’s state-linked media. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he was reviewing the proposal but expressed doubt it would lead to a deal, adding on social media 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”.

On Sunday, Iran said it had received a US response to its offer for peace talks. Iranian state media reported that Washington had conveyed its response to Iran’s 14-point proposal via Pakistan, and Tehran was now reviewing it. There was no immediate confirmation from Washington or Islamabad of the US response.

“At this stage, we do not have nuclear negotiations,” state media quoted Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying, an apparent reference to Iran’s proposal to set aside talks on nuclear issues until after the war ends and the parties agree to lift opposing blockades of Gulf shipping.

On Saturday, Trump said that he had yet to review the exact wording of the Iranian peace proposal, but that he was likely to reject it.

The US and Israel suspended their bombing campaign against Iran four weeks ago, and US and Iranian officials held one round of talks. But attempts to set up further meetings have failed so far.

Iran handed over its latest proposal on Thursday, and a senior Iranian official confirmed on Saturday that Tehran envisions ending the war and resolving the shipping standoff first, while leaving talks on Iran’s nuclear programme for later.

Though Trump initially said on Friday that he was not satisfied with the proposal, he said on Saturday he was still looking at it. “They told me about the concept of the deal. They’re going to give me the exact wording now,” he told reporters. Asked if he might restart strikes on Iran, the US president replied: “I don’t want to say that. I mean, I can’t tell that to a reporter. If they misbehave, if they do something bad, right now we’ll see. But it’s a possibility that could happen.”

The proposal to delay talks on nuclear issues until a later phase would appear at odds with Washington’s repeated demand that Iran accept stringent restrictions on its nuclear programme before the war can end.



Washington wants Tehran to give up its stockpile of more than 400kg of highly enriched uranium, which the US says could be used to make a bomb. Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful, though it is willing to discuss some curbs in return for the lifting of sanctions, as it had accepted in a 2015 deal that Trump abandoned.

Iranian media said the 14-point proposal includes withdrawing US forces from nearby areas, lifting the blo-ckade, releasing frozen assets, paying compensation, lifting sanctions, ending the war on all fronts including Lebanon and creating a new control mechanism for Strait of Hormuz.