The American administration "transmitted its views" to the Pakistani mediator regarding Tehran's 14-point plan to end the conflict, Iranian diplomacy said on Sunday evening, which said it was examining Washington's response.
Published on: 05/03/2026 - 12:57 Modified on: 05/04/2026 - 11:51
Iran on Sunday (May 3) challenged the United States to choose between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” in the Middle East conflict, after Donald Trump warned that he risked rejecting a new proposal from Tehran to restart their talks.
The situation between the two countries has been blocked since the entry into force of a ceasefire on April 8, after almost 40 days of Israeli-American strikes on Iran and Tehran's retaliations in the region.
Between the Strait of Hormuz and the nuclear aspect, the points of contention remain so important that efforts to relaunch negotiations have failed, despite a first direct meeting in Pakistan on April 11.
To give the discussions another chance, Tehran submitted a new proposal to Washington, which responded to it, Iranian diplomacy said on Sunday evening.
"The American side... has conveyed its views to the Pakistani side; we are examining this and will formulate the appropriate response," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghai said.
“Reduced room for maneuver”
American President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would study the proposal, without being able to imagine that it would be "acceptable, because (the Iranians) have not yet paid a sufficient price for what they have done to humanity and to the world for 47 years" and the founding of the Islamic Republic.
“The United States' room for maneuver in decision-making has been reduced,” retorted the intelligence service of the Revolutionary Guards in a statement relayed by state television. The president "Trump must choose between 'an impossible military operation or a bad agreement with the Islamic Republic'", continued this organ of the Guards Corps, a powerful Iranian ideological army.
Mohsen Rezaei, former commander-in-chief of the Guards, appointed in March as military advisor to the new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, threatened to sink US warships and send their forces "to the cemetery", calling Washington a "pirate".
Iranian diplomacy indicated that the plan transmitted through Pakistan included 14 points and proposed approving the end of hostilities, before discussing within 30 days the implementation of the agreement.
The nuclear issue does not appear in the plan, but it is a central issue for the United States and Israel, who accuse Iran of wanting to acquire an atomic bomb – something Tehran denies.
“Our plan focuses exclusively on ending the war,” said Esmaïl Baghaï. Iran had already transmitted a text this week through Pakistan, without any details filtering out.
“We are in the process of asphyxiating the regime”
The war has left thousands dead, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, with serious consequences for the global economy.
Oil prices have recorded an unprecedented increase since 2022, fueled by the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the hydrocarbons consumed in the world previously passed. Washington imposes a blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran's almost total blockage of this strategic passage.
“I can tell you that we are in the process of suffocating the regime, that they are no longer able to pay their soldiers,” assured the American Minister of the Treasury, Scott Bessent.
Questioned by journalists on Saturday evening, Donald Trump refused to specify what could trigger new military operations, a “possibility” according to him.
The president theoretically had until Friday to seek authorization from Congress to continue the war. He preferred to send a letter to parliamentary officials to notify them that hostilities against Iran were "over", even though several elected Democrats stressed that the continued presence of forces in the region indicated the opposite.
With AFP
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