Khaberni - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that his country is considering an American proposal to stop the war but does not intend to hold talks to end the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Araghchi's statements indicated that Tehran is somewhat ready to negotiate to end the war if its demands are met.
However, he told state television that exchanging messages through intermediaries "does not mean negotiations with the United States".
Araghchi said, "They have put forward ideas in their messages that were conveyed to the higher authorities which, if necessary, will announce their stance".
Three informed sources in the Israeli government said that the 15-point proposal includes eliminating Iran’s stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, stopping enrichment processes, curbing Iran’s ballistic missile program, and stopping its funding for groups allied with it in the region.
The White House has refrained from disclosing details of its proposal and threatened to escalate the strikes.
White House spokeswoman Carolin Levitt told reporters, "If Iran does not accept the current situation, and if it does not realize that it has been militarily defeated, and will remain so, then President Trump will ensure that it is hit harder than any previous strike."
A senior Israeli defense official doubted Iran's acceptance of the terms and feared that American negotiators might make concessions. A second source said Israel also wanted any agreement to keep the option of launching preemptive strikes.
Positive market response
Global stock markets regained some of their gains while oil prices fell on Wednesday after reports that Washington had sent the proposal to Iran, as investors hoped for an end to a war that disrupted global energy supplies and threatened to fuel inflation.
Sources said that the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) plans to send thousands of troops by air to the Gulf to give Trump more options regarding issuing an order for a ground attack, in addition to two Marine Corps units already on their way to the region. It is expected that the first Marine unit aboard a large amphibious attack ship will arrive by the end of the month.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported a military source in Iran, who was not named, saying on Wednesday that Tehran might open a new front at Bab al-Mandab strait if attacks are launched on its territory or islands. The source added that Iran is capable of forming a "real threat" in this strategic strait leading to the Red Sea and located between Yemen and Djibouti.
Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that his country would attack a neighboring country, which he did not name, if it cooperated with "enemy" efforts to occupy one of Iran's islands.
Since the beginning of the war called "The Epic of Rage" by the United States at the end of February, Iran has launched attacks on countries hosting US bases and bombed energy infrastructure in the Gulf and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas production passes.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday that "the world faces the risk of a broader war."
He said at the United Nations headquarters in New York, "It is time to stop escalation... and start diplomacy".
More strikes
Air strikes on Iran and Iranian drone and missile attacks on Israel and sites in US-allied countries have not abated.
In response to a question about whether Israel had altered its military plans after Trump hinted at talks with Iran, an Israeli military official said things are "proceeding as usual".
The Israeli military announced several new waves of attacks on Iranian naval shipyards and other targets.
The semi-official ISNA news agency in Iran reported that the bombing targeted a residential area in Tehran, where rescue operations began in the rubble.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said it launched new attacks on Israel and US bases in Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain.
