Iran receives Washington’s response to proposal to end Middle East conflict
Just days after US President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to end the Middle East war, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday that Tehran had received Washington’s official response to its plan to resolve the lingering crisis.
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“At today’s cabinet meeting, the American side’s proposal was presented to President Masoud Pezeshkian by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi,” government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told the official IRNA news agency, without specifying the content of the reply.
After seven months of conflict, indirect talks between the United States and Iran resumed last week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Iran said it has put forward seven conditions for ending hostilities and reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for oil and gas exports.
The strait lies at the heart of the conflict between the United States and Iran, which began with US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic in late February.
READ ALSO: US House votes again to curb Trump’s Military action in Iran
Tehran imposed a blockade on Hormuz after the war started, prompting Washington to respond with its own blockade on Iranian ports. While not all conditions have been made public, Iran is notably demanding a ceasefire across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where its ally Hezbollah has been battling Israeli forces.
It is also demanding the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade.
Trump rejected the proposal when speaking to the press on Saturday, but Tehran had been awaiting an official response via Qatari mediators.
Fighting has subsided in recent weeks, though Tehran has continued to target ships in the strait.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the country’s military, said on Wednesday that they have been striking small vessels that try to pass through the strait.
“We have been striking ships for quite some time now — specifically the small vessels I mentioned that attempt to pass. We block their passage, yet the US has not retaliated for a while,” Guards spokesperson Hossein Mohebi told state TV.
READ ALSO: China, Malaysia, others defy US sanctions on Iran’s aviation sector, continue scheduled flights
The US, meanwhile, has stepped up its economic warfare against Iran, imposing sanctions on Iranian airlines and vowing to take a hard stance against foreign companies that provide them with assistance.
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