The US president says Iranian leaders are denying ongoing negotiations with Washington in an attempt to save face and out of fear “they’ll be killed by their own people”. The comments came after Tehran rejected his 15-point truce proposal and instead listed their own demands to end the war.
US President Donald Trump says Iran is eager to make a deal with the United States even after Tehran had dismissed his 15-point ceasefire plan and issued its own sweeping counter demands to stop the hostilities as it launched new attacks at Israel and neighbouring Gulf Arab states.
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Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan – which along with Turkey have emerged as possible mediators to the conflict – said it had presented the US demands to Iranian officials to kickstart diplomatic processes aimed at restoring order and peace to the region.
Speaking broadly on Washington’s demands, Pakistani officials familiar with the Trump proposal said the deal included sanctions relief, a rollback of Iran’s nuclear programme, limits on missiles and reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil normally passes.
Responding to the proposal, Iran – through state-run broadcasters – rejected the White House’s demands and instead issued its own list of demands, which included reparations for the war, guarantees that no further wars could be launched against it, a halt to killing of its officials and sovereignty over the strategic waterway.
They also maintained that Iran had not engaged in any sort of direct or indirect negotiations aimed at ending hostilities with the United States, rebuking Trump claims.
“No negotiations have happened with the enemy until now, and we do not plan on any negotiations,” said Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister.
Still, Trump insisted at a Republican fundraiser on Wednesday night that talks were ongoing with Iranian leaders.
“They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly, but they’re afraid to say it because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people,” said Trump.
His comments come as US and Israeli strikes across Iran have appeared to pick up in intensity as the war enters day 27. Trump had earlier on Wednesday warned that he is ready to “unleash hell” if Tehran failed to enter into a deal with the US, threatening to hit them “harder than they’ve ever been hit before”.
Activists in Isfahan reported major strikes early on Thursday on the city, located some 300 kilometres south of the capital Tehran, which hosts some of the country’s biggest air bases and military sites, as well as one of the nuclear sites bombed by the US in June.
A semi-official Iranian news outlet, close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, described the attacks as targeting “two residential areas,” without elaborating. Several explosions were also reported in the eastern city of Mashhad.
Meanwhile, sirens sounded across Tel Aviv and central Israeli cities, warning of an incoming missile salvo. It was not immediately clear as officials did not specify whether Iran was responsible for the latest launch or whether the barrage was fired from its Lebanon-based proxy, Hezbollah.
Tehran is also continuing to fire fleets of drones and missiles at its neighbouring states in the Gulf region, most which host US bases, in attacks that have targeted military sites, but also civilian areas and energy infrastructure.
Shipping and oil exports also remain suspended through the chokepoint Strait of Hormuz, exacerbating a dire crisis which has seen the price of oil spike globally. Brent crude, the international standard, traded at around $104 a barrel on Thursday, a 60 per cent surge from pre-war figures.
The death toll in the war continues to climb with the latest figures coming out of Iran indicating that it had surpassed 1,500 while Lebanese health authorities say around 1,100 people were killed in Israeli attacks so far.
In Israel, the death toll has risen to 20, while US deaths remain at 13, all service members. At least 22 people have also died in retaliatory Iranian strikes across the Gulf states.