Iran rejects Trump ceasefire proposal

Earlier this week, reports emerged that President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff had forwarded a proposal to Iran for a one month ceasefire to negotiate a 15-point peace plan. The Iranians confirmed that they had received such a proposal but had had no direct communications with the US. Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt are mediating.

The text of Witkoff’s proposal was not made public, but several media outlets have reported on its contents, citing diplomatic sources. The details reported vary from outlet to outlet, but all reports all agreed on a few key points. The document called for the Iranians to:

Complete dismantle their nuclear program: cease enrichment of uranium, hand over all highly enriched uranium to the IAEA, and decommission their nuclear facilities.
Cease supporting militias in the Middle East (including the Shia militias in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen).
Completely open the Hormuz Strait.

No reports mentioned demands that the Iranians cease developing and manufacturing ballistic missiles, something the Trump administration and particularly Israel had previously pushed for in negotiations.

In return for agreeing to this, Iran would receive total sanctions relief and a cancelation the the UN mechanism that would allow the reimposition of sanctions.

Iran’s response

Today, Iranian sources told the media that they had rejected the US proposal as “maximalist” and said the terms were not workable. Instead, Iran reiterated its previous demands:

Israel and the US must cease their aggressions
Guarantees that the US and Israel would not resume their hostilities.
War reparations paid to Iran.
Ceasefire to include all fronts of the war, including Lebanon where Israel is attempting to broaden its military occupation.
Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

Additional comments underscored that Iran has no interest in ending the conflict until they have restored a sufficient deterrence against furth military aggression. Iran’s Consulate General in Mumbai stated on Twitter: “Iran will end the war at a time of its own choosing and only if the conditions it has set are fulfilled. It will not allow Trump to determine the timing of the war’s end”.

The Iranians also likely suspect that Trump’s call for talks is a ruse to buy time for more military assets to arrive in the region for a possible ground invasion. This includes thousands of troops from the 82nd Airborne, as well as over 4000 Marines traveling on amphibious assault ships