Iran received a 15-point proposal from the U.S. to reach a ceasefire in the war, two Pakistani officials said Wednesday.
The Pakistani officials described the proposal broadly as touching on sanctions relief, civilian nuclear cooperation, a rollback of Iran’s nuclear program, monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, missile limits and access for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
The plan was submitted to Iran by intermediaries from the government of Pakistan, which has offered to host renewed negotiations between Washington and Tehran, a person briefed on the plan's contours but who was not authorized to speak publicly told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, an Egyptian official involved in mediation efforts between Iran and the U.S. described the 15-points put forward by the Americans as “a comprehensive deal” to reach a truce in the war.
The official said the proposal includes restrictions on Iran’s missile program and its arming of armed groups, as well as allowing traffic to flow through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. However, the proposal “is being treated” as a base for further negotiations between the nations, he added.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the yet-publicized details of the proposal, said Iranian officials remain “very skeptical” of the Trump administration.
The official likened the 15-point plan to Gaza ceasefire’s 20-point plan - which means it requires “immense efforts to hamper the details if there is an agreement from both sides to sit down and negotiate.”
The remarks from Islamabad and Cairo come as the U.S. military is preparing to send at least 1,000 more troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to supplement some 50,000 troops already in the region.
The New York Times reported earlier Tuesday that the 15-point plan had been delivered to Iranian officials.
The Pentagon is also in the process of deploying a pair of Marine Expeditionary Units that will add about 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the region.
Israeli officials, who have been advocating for Trump to continue the war against Iran, were taken by surprise by the U.S. administration’s submission of a ceasefire plan, the person said.
But with the U.S. taking steps to send additional soldiers and Marines to the Mideast, the move is being framed as Trump maneuvering to give himself “max flexibility” on what he will do next, the person added.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Any talks between the U.S. and Iran would face monumental challenges. Many of Washington’s shifting objectives, particularly over Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs, remain difficult to achieve, and it is not clear who in Iran’s government has the authority or would be willing to negotiate.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s office said he has been discussing the war this week with several counterparts, but Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, denied Trump’s claim of direct talks and an Iranian military spokesperson declared that the fighting would go on.
Alluding to progress in talks, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Iran shared an oil- and gas-related “present,” a day after telling reporters that the Middle Eastern nation is eager for a deal to end the war.
'Only negotiating with themselves'
An Iranian military spokesperson mocked U.S. attempts at a ceasefire deal Wednesday, insisting that the Americans were only negotiating with themselves.
Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, made the statement in a prerecorded video aired on state television.
“The strategic power you used to talk about has turned into a strategic failure,” he said. “The one claiming to be a global superpower would have already gotten out of this mess if it could. Don’t dress up your defeat as an agreement. Your era of empty promises has come to an end.”
He added: “Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?”
“Our first and last word has been the same from day one, and it will stay that way: Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you,” he said. “Not now, not ever.”
“Stability in the region is guaranteed by the strong hand of our armed forces. Stability through strength,” Zolfaghari said.
“We state this clearly: Until it is our will, nothing will go back to the way it was. That will only come about when the very thought of acting against the Iranian nation is completely wiped from your corrupt minds.”
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