Hopes for a negotiated end to the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has engulfed much of the Middle East, rose after reports that the United States had presented a 15-point peace plan to Tehran.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied any negotiations with the Trump administration late Wednesday, saying only that messages were being exchanged through “friendly countries.”
“At present, our policy is continued resistance,” Araghchi said on state television, adding, “We do not intend to negotiate — so far, no negotiations have taken place.”
Reports of the 15-point plan came through Pakistan, where two officials said Islamabad had passed it to Tehran.
However, Iran’s state-run Press TV, citing an unnamed official, said Tehran had rejected the proposal and instead presented five conditions for ending hostilities. These include guarantees that the United States and Israel will not resume the war, as well as compensation for damages.
Trump insisted at a dinner with lawmakers on Wednesday that Iran wanted to “make a deal” but was concealing talks out of fear. "They're afraid to say it, because they figure they'll be killed by their own people," Trump said. "They're also afraid they'll be killed by us."
On Thursday, Trump claimed on Truth Social that Iranian negotiators were “‘begging’ us to make a deal, which they should be doing since they have been militarily obliterated.”
“They'd better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won't be pretty!” he warned.
The White House has declined to identify its interlocutor in Tehran following the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, whose son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen publicly since the transition.
Meanwhile, Israel took Iranian FM Araqchi and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf off its hit-list after Pakistan requested Washington not to target them, a Pakistani source with knowledge of the discussion told Reuters on Thursday.
“The Israelis had their... coordinates and wanted to take them out. We told the US that if they are eliminated, there is no one left to talk to, so the US asked Israel to back off,” the source said.
The Axios news website had suggested that the Iranian parliament speaker could have been the official involved in the reported discussions.
Ghalibaf denied the claim on X, saying, “No negotiations have taken place with the United States, and fake news is being used to manipulate financial and oil markets and to help the United States and Israel out of the quagmire in which they are stuck.”
An Iranian embassy official in Islamabad noted that talks in Pakistan remained possible and that the country was Tehran’s preferred venue, although nothing had been finalized, Reuters reported.
The Trump administration has reportedly put forward the proposal as part of efforts to end the war despite deploying additional forces to the Middle East. According to the Associated Press, a strike group led by the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli has moved closer to the Middle East, carrying about 2,500 Marines.
At least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division have also been ordered to deploy to the region.
The troop movements do not necessarily indicate that the US president intends to use force to pressure Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or halt attacks on Gulf Arab states, according to AP.
Trump previously deployed a large force in the Caribbean before the American military captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January. In the current situation, the US is believed to be focused on possibly seizing Iran’s oil terminal at Kharg Island or other sites near the strait.
The Iranian Ministry of Health reported that at least 1,937 people, including 240 women and 212 children, were killed and 28,800 were wounded in US and Israeli strikes since the start of the war.
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