TEHRAN: Iran announced on Monday that it had replied to Washington’s latest peace initiative aimed at ending the ongoing conflict, while talks between the two sides continue through Pakistani mediation despite reports in Iranian media criticizing the US demands as unreasonable.
The conflict, which erupted on February 28, has prompted several exchanges of proposals between Tehran and Washington. So far, only one formal round of negotiations has taken place, while a fragile ceasefire has remained in effect since April 8.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said during a weekly briefing that Iran had already communicated its concerns to the American side and confirmed that diplomatic contacts were still ongoing through Pakistan’s mediation efforts. He did not provide further details.
Baqaei reiterated Tehran’s key demands, including the release of Iranian funds frozen overseas and the removal of longstanding US sanctions. He stressed that these issues had consistently been defended by Iran’s negotiating team throughout all discussions.
He also insisted that Iran’s request for compensation over what it described as an “illegal and unjustified” war remained an important part of the negotiations.
Addressing the possibility of renewed fighting, Baqaei stated that Iran was fully ready to respond to any future developments.
According to Iran’s Fars News Agency, the latest US proposal contains five main conditions. These reportedly include limiting Iran to a single operational nuclear facility and transferring its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to the United States.
The report further claimed that Washington had rejected releasing even a quarter of Iran’s frozen assets and had refused to discuss compensation for wartime damages. It added that the US intended to end military actions only if Tehran entered formal peace negotiations.
Meanwhile, Mehr News Agency criticized the American proposal, saying the US was seeking gains at the negotiating table that it had failed to secure during the conflict itself. The agency described Washington’s demands as excessive and warned they could stall negotiations.
An earlier Iranian proposal sent last week reportedly called for a complete halt to hostilities across the region, including Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, and demanded an end to the US naval blockade imposed on Iranian ports since April 13.
Tehran also requested the removal of all American sanctions and the unfreezing of Iranian financial assets abroad.
According to Fars, Iran’s proposal further emphasized that Tehran would continue overseeing the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy shipping route that Iran has largely restricted since the war began.
