Iran submits 14-point response to U.S. proposal to end war

Iran war proposal: Tehran delivers 14 demands to Washington

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

Iran handed the United States a 14-point counter-offer late Saturday to end the 10-day air-and-missile campaign that has killed more than 530 people across the Persian Gulf.

The document, delivered through Omani mediators, calls for an immediate cease-fire, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a U.S. pledge to lift oil-export sanctions within 90 days, two Iranian diplomats familiar with the text told GlobalBeat.

Tehran’s reply landed in Washington five days after President Donald Trump ordered a pause in strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and demanded Iran “stop all enrichment beyond 20 percent.” The pause expires at midnight Wednesday, meaning both capitals now have less than 72 hours to avert a wider war.

The 14 clauses cover battlefield, diplomatic and economic arenas, according to a two-page summary seen by GlobalBeat. Iran wants U.S. bombers returned to bases at least 800 km from its coastline, indemnities for civilians killed since May 1, and a guaranteed fuel-import channel to keep the country’s aging power plants running. In exchange, Iran offers to cap enrichment at the current 60 percent level, release 2 foreign-flagged tankers seized last week, and open its ports to Red Crescent aid convoys.

A senior State Department official confirmed receipt of the paper “overnight” and said talks would continue “through Gulf interlocutors,” declining to detail the points. The White House has not scheduled a formal response.

The air war began when Iran fired 180 drones and missiles at Israel on May 1 after a suspected Israeli strike killed 13 Revolutionary Guards at an Isfahan radar facility. Trump responded with two waves of attacks on uranium workshops at Natanz and Fordow, killing 42 Iranian technicians, Pentagon tallies show. Tehran then hit the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar with ballistic missiles, wounding 18 U.S. airmen.

Oil markets gyrated on news of the Iranian plan. Brent crude, which surged to $97 a barrel Friday, slipped 3 percent to $93.72 in early Asian trade. The U.S. dollar strengthened 0.6 percent against the Japanese yen as traders priced in a lower probability of a Strait of Hormuz blockade.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet for a 2 a.m. session Sunday but issued no statement. Ministers were told the U.S. had updated Jerusalem “throughout the night,” an official present said. Israel wants any accord to include Hezbollah’s pullback from the Lebanese border, a demand absent from Iran’s text.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social platform X that the proposal “has no red lines except dignity and sovereignty,” language that appeared to reject direct talks with Washington. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who must bless any accord, met only his top military commanders Saturday, state media reported, giving no hint of endorsement.

Gulf states that host U.S. jets—Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE—privately pressed Tehran to insert a clause barring future missile launches toward their airspace, three Gulf officials said. Iran refused, offering instead a 48-hour notification window for military exercises. “We told them that is nowhere near enough,” one of the officials said.

Russia and China both urged restraint. Moscow’s deputy UN ambassador said the Security Council would meet Monday to discuss humanitarian corridors. Beijing dispatched its Middle East envoy to Muscat for “technical consultations,” the Chinese foreign ministry stated.

Sanctions lawyers in Washington warned that lifting oil restrictions quickly may prove impossible without Congress, which has mandated most penalties through statutory language Trump cannot waive alone. “He can suspend enforcement, but bankers still face secondary-sanction risk,” said Richard Nephew, a former Treasury official involved in drafting the 2012 oil embargo.

American oil majors cheered the lower-price signal. Chevron shares rose 2.1 percent in electronic trade, recouping losses from the prior week when tanker rates spiked. European refiners Total and Eni said they would study “snap-back clauses” before any rush to book Iranian barrels.

The Pentagon continues to fly B-52 bombers from Diego Garcia over the Arabian Sea. Satellite images Sunday showed 5 destroyers still forward-deployed inside the Strait of Hormuz. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Saturday that ships would remain “until Iran complies,” without specifying compliance metrics.

Background

The United States and Iran have had no formal diplomatic ties since April 1980, when militant students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Successive U.S. administrations have relied on Switzerland to protect American interests in Iran and on Gulf intermediaries for urgent messages.

Sanctions on Iranian oil date to 1995 but intensified in 2012 when Congress black-listed the central bank. By 2018, President Trump abandoned the multilateral nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor and imposed a un embargo that cut Iran’s petroleum exports from 2.5 million barrels a day to under 400,000. Tehran responded by expanding enrichment beyond the 3.67 percent cap set by the accord and, in 2021, began producing 60 percent-grade material, a short technical step from bomb-grade.

What’s Next

Oman has given both sides until Tuesday night to submit “clarifications,” after which Sultan Haitham bin Tariq may fly to Washington to hand Trump a joint proposal, diplomats said. If the 72-hour U.S. bombing pause lapses without agreement, Pentagon planners have prepared strike packages targeting Bandar Abbas naval port and the uranium conversion plant at Isfahan, according to a U.S. official.