EPA/Samuel Corum/POOL
“The war will end when Iran decides to end it, not when Trump decides.” Because Iran believes it is winning and sees no reason to negotiate.
Iran rejected the United States’ peace plan this Wednesday, said a government official, who was not identified, quoted by Iranian state television.
“Iran reacted negatively to the American proposal”, indicated Press TV, a public channel in English aimed at a foreign audience, referring to the allegations made by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
“The war will end when Iran decides to end it, not when Trump decides,” the broadcaster added, broadcasting the Iranian official’s words.
Washington’s demands
Moments earlier, Pakistan had announced that it had delivered to Iran the North American proposal, which allegedly includes demands such as end of Tehran’s support for regional alliessuch as the Lebanese Shiite group or the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement.
On Monday, Tehran indicated that it had received messages from “some friendly countries” about a US request to begin negotiations to end the war, the official Iranian agency IRNA reported.
The plan came to light after the American newspaper The New York Times and Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration had put together a set of demands to put an end to the conflict with Iran.
According to three unnamed sources cited by Channel 12, U.S. negotiators — special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner — proposed a month-long ceasefirethe time needed for the Iranian authorities to analyze those demands.
Washington has demanded that Iran renounce equipping itself with atomic weapons, that it hand over all enriched fuel at its disposal by a date fixed by the parties, and that several important nuclear facilities be dismantled.
It is also proposed to impose limits on the number of missiles available to the country and within its range of action.
Furthermore, the Strait of Hormuzwhere around 20% of the world’s hydrocarbons transit, must remain open to maritime circulation.
In return, Iran will obtain the lifting of international sanctions and support for its civil nuclear program.
The White House and the State Department have not confirmed the information.
Iran believes it is winning and sees no reason to negotiate
Tehran had already hardened its position and admitted that it had room to dictate an end to the war. According to the Iranian reading, the conflict opened an opportunity for strengthen influence over energy resources of the Middle East and consolidate, in the long term, control over one of the most sensitive regions for the global supply of oil and gas.
The strategy is based, to a large extent, on the conviction that the Time plays in Iran’s favor. Despite statements by the United States and Israel about the destruction of missile launchers and reserves, Tehran maintains the capacity to launch dozens of ballistic missiles and numerous drones daily at various points in the region.
In this approach, the Strait of Hormuz is Iran’s “ace”, which has already advanced the idea of creating a new status which would force ships to pay fees to Tehran to cross the sea lane. The proposal would, in practice, amount to transforming the strait into a mechanism for Iranian control over a substantial portion of global energy trade.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has given mixed signals about the duration of the war, but insists it intends to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, if necessary by force.
