• #561
  • #562
The Iranian regime has reportedly made outlandish demands in response to the cease-fire proposal and the 15-point plan President Trump has put forward to end the war.

Tehran is demanding the closure of all US military bases in the Gulf region and reparations for attacks on the country, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Iran also insists on being able to collect fees from ships that transit the Strait of Hormuz; guarantees that the war won’t restart; an end to Israel’s strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon; the lifting of all sanctions; and the ability to keep its ballistic missile program with no negotiations to limit it, according to the outlet.

 
  • #563
  • #564
  • #565
  • #566
Iran has mocked Donald Trump's claims that the U.S. has engaged in peace talks with Tehran.

A spokesperson for the Iranian military said in a pre-recorded statement that the U.S. president is trying to "dress up your defeat as an agreement".

Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari made the comments after the Trump administration put forward a 15-point plan for ending the war

🔗Latest: Iran war latest: Iran's military mocks Trump - after US hands over 15-point peace plan
Iran war latest: Iran's military mocks Trump - after US hands over 15-point peace plan
 
  • #567
From 12 March 2026:
Greenpeace simulations show how an oil slick could spread if the stranded tankers are damaged in an attack. The Strait of Hormuz and adjacent waters are home to pristine coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows. This is an ecological ticking time bomb and represents an enormous risk that further increases instability and human suffering in the region.
 
  • #568
Article from 25 March 2026:

war in Iran exposes US’s shift from a global guardian to an arbiter of chaos​

To shield ordinary Indians from the war in Iran, the government in Delhi redirected supplies of liquefied gas to Indian families, for which it is the main cooking fuel, limiting supplies to the plastics industry. The Nepalese government rationed gas and the Philippines trimmed the government workweek to four days. Bangladesh closed universities and rationed fuel.
 
  • #569
The costs, everywhere, have to be watched.

Cargo ships leaving China for the Gulf taking longer to arrive, analyst says

Many container ships delivering cargo from China to the Middle East are taking triple the amount of time to reach the region than usual, a shipping analyst has told CNN.

Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, an ocean and air freight firm, said many ships leaving China — carrying cargo including food and pharmaceuticals — are sailing to the Red Sea port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia instead of through the Strait of Hormuz to Dubai.

But the threat of potential Houthi militant attacks on ships passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait at the base of the Red Sea, means the vessels are taking an exceptionally long route.

Sand said these ships were sailing across the Indian Ocean, around the southern tip of Africa, up and east through the Mediterranean Sea and then down through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea from the top. The route takes about 60 days — up from the roughly 20 days it takes for a cargo ship travelling from China to Dubai.

According to Xeneta data, the average cost of transporting one 40-foot container along the China-Jeddah route was more than $5,800 yesterday.
That’s almost four times more expensive than it was to move the same container from China to Dubai a month ago.



 
  • #570

Trump keeps up claims of talks with ‘the right people’ in Iran​

US reportedly engaged in backchannel efforts, though Israel is apparently not on the same page, and military buildup continues.

 
  • #571
15 point plan is nothing new; old proposal that led to US bombing of Iran.

"Let's return briefly to the 15-point plan that the United States reportedly presented to Iran to end the war. "When I read the 15 points that the US allegedly presented to Iran, I thought: 'But I've read this before'," says Inge Vrancken, VRT NWS journalist and Middle East expert. She is currently in Lebanon.

This is the plan that was on the table in May last year, at a time when the US and Iran were also negotiating. Negotiations that broke down because the US started attacking Iran . You see that same plan on the table today; it seems to me that it has barely received an update. The Strait of Hormuz has been added to it.

Real negotiations are not taking place at the moment. "Iran does not want to negotiate directly with the US right now. There is absolutely no trust for that," says Vrancken. "There are talks with regional partners who then have contact with the US, so there will be indirect contact. But direct, no."

 
  • #572
"US President Donald Trump is using the carrot and the stick with the 15-point plan, says Middle East expert Jens Franssen. "On the one hand, he continues to threaten. For instance, extra troops are heading to the Middle East. So, the stick."

On the other hand, there is the carrot. The plan imposes various restrictions on Iran regarding its nuclear weapons program. Uranium enrichment, a missile program, supporting pro-Iranian groups: none of it is allowed anymore. In return, however, there will be an end to the war and the economic sanctions.

Franssen finds it striking that there is no longer any talk about democracy, human rights, or a real regime change in the country. "We don't hear anything about that anymore, and perhaps it never was. It is about oil, gas, and that nuclear weapons program."

 
  • #573
Israel’s military said it had launched a new wave of strikes on Wednesday in Tehran, the Iranian capital, even as President Trump appeared to support Pakistan’s offer to broker talks between the United States and Iran.

Pakistan was said to have delivered a 15-point peace plan from the United States to Iran, according to two officials briefed on the matter. But it is unclear whether Iran would accept the U.S. plan as a basis for negotiations to end the war, now in its fourth week, or whether Israel supports it. Iran has publicly denied President Trump’s claims that negotiations with the United States were underway
 
  • #574
  • #575
A trio of European energy CEOs has sounded a warning over energy supplies, amid the ongoing conflict in Iran and restricted access through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

Amid volatile trade, crude prices have surged around 40% in recent weeks, at one point approaching $120 a barrel as investors raised concerns over a potential lack of supply.

Those concerns have been felt particularly in Asian countries so far, with the Philippines announcing an energy emergency, while South Korea says it is preparing for “worst-case scenarios.”

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has asked the International Energy Agency to consider an additional release from global crude stockpiles, with the global energy watchdog having already coordinated the release of 400 million barrels of oil amongst member countries.

Japan will release national stockpiles on Thursday, with Takaichi confirming Tokyo will access the IEA stockpiles toward the end of the month.

But now there are fears the supply concerns will move westward.

“South Asia was first to get that brunt. That’s moved to Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and then more so into Europe as we get into April,” Shell CEO Wael Sawan said at CERAWeek in Houston, Texas.
 
  • #576
"Iran has received and reviewed the United States' 15-point plan but calls the conditions set "excessive." This is reported by the Iranian state broadcaster Press TV, based on an official source. Tehran reportedly rejected the proposal and instead put its own conditions on the table to end the war.

Iran demands, among other things, a halt to attacks and targeted killings, concrete guarantees to prevent a new war, and clear agreements on compensation for losses suffered. The country also wants its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz to be recognized, and for not only the war against Iran to stop, but also the war against allies in the region.

Tehran further emphasizes that it will only end the war at a time of its own choosing, and that it will not allow itself to be dictated to by US President Donald Trump.

News agency Reuters reports, citing a high-ranking Iranian official, that Tehran's initial reaction was "not positive," but that the proposal is still being assessed."

 
  • #577
Iran on Wednesday dismissed an American plan to pause the war in the Middle East and launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries, including an assault that sparked a huge fire at Kuwait International Airport.

Iran’s defiance came as Israel launched airstrikes on Tehran and as the United States deployed paratroopers and more Marines to the region.

Iranian state television’s English-language broadcaster, Press TV, quoted an anonymous official as saying Iran rejected America’s ceasefire proposal. Press TV’s report came after Pakistan transmitted the proposal to Iran.

“Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met,” Press TV quoted the official as saying. The official added Tehran will continue its “heavy blows” across the Mideast.
 
  • #578
More statements from the US that are contradicted by Iran ...

"U.S. President Donald Trump has said that American officials are in negotiations with Iran. Iran's Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which commands both the regular military and the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, suggested that there are no talks.

"Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?" said Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the headquarters.

"Our first and last word has been the same from day one, and it will stay that way: Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you," Zolfaghari said in the video statement aired on state television. "Not now, not ever."

 
  • #579
15 point plan is nothing new; old proposal that led to US bombing of Iran.

"Let's return briefly to the 15-point plan that the United States reportedly presented to Iran to end the war. "When I read the 15 points that the US allegedly presented to Iran, I thought: 'But I've read this before'," says Inge Vrancken, VRT NWS journalist and Middle East expert. She is currently in Lebanon.

This is the plan that was on the table in May last year, at a time when the US and Iran were also negotiating. Negotiations that broke down because the US started attacking Iran . You see that same plan on the table today; it seems to me that it has barely received an update. The Strait of Hormuz has been added to it.

Real negotiations are not taking place at the moment. "Iran does not want to negotiate directly with the US right now. There is absolutely no trust for that," says Vrancken. "There are talks with regional partners who then have contact with the US, so there will be indirect contact. But direct, no."


From this press.... Iran still says:

No direct or indirect talks US-Iran​

The Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, says that there have been "no direct or indirect negotiations" between the United States and Iran. Moghadam is quoted by the Iranian state news agency IRNA.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump had said that the US was speaking "with the right people in Iran" and that Iran "very much wants to reach an agreement." The Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, however, contradicts this.
 
  • #580
Iran has so far denied any negotiations were taking place, pledging to fight "until complete victory." Pakistan, Egypt and Gulf Arab nations are trying behind the scenes to piece together talks, but their efforts still seem preliminary. Israel is vowing to keep up its attacks.

If anything, the war appears to only be escalating. Barrages were fired into Iran, Israel and across the Mideast on Tuesday. Meanwhile, thousands more U.S. Marines were on their way to the Gulf, and the Army was preparing to deploy at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days.

The U.S. agreed "in principle" to join talks in Pakistan, according to three Pakistani officials, one Egyptian official and a Gulf diplomat, while mediators were still working to convince Iran. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide the details to the media.

The Egyptian official said efforts are centered on "trust-building" between the U.S. and Iran, aiming to reach a pause in fighting and a "mechanism" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
 

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