Iran Says Washington Has Replied to Its Peace Plan, But Trump Calls It Unacceptable
A fragile diplomatic back-and-forth is now centre stage in one of the world’s most dangerous conflicts. Iran confirmed on Sunday that the United States has officially replied to its 14-point peace proposal aimed at bringing a permanent end to the war, but Washington’s response appears far from warm, with President Donald Trump already calling the plan difficult to accept.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei delivered the announcement live on state television, telling the nation that America’s reply had arrived through Pakistan, which has been serving as a key go-between for the two sides. Baghaei said Tehran is now carefully reviewing what Washington sent back and would respond in due course.
The 14-point plan, which Iran submitted to Pakistani mediators on Friday, lays out Tehran’s own conditions for ending a war that has been tearing through the region since late February.
According to Iranian state media, the plan demands that all issues be resolved and the war brought to a close within 30 days, a much tighter window than the two-month ceasefire the United States had previously proposed.
Iran is also calling for the lifting of the American naval blockade, war reparations, the release of all frozen Iranian assets, and security guarantees that would prevent any future military aggression against the country. Crucially, Baghaei stressed that the plan is entirely focused on ending the war and has nothing to do with Iran’s nuclear programme. “Our 14-point plan exclusively focuses on ending the war and contains no issues related to the nuclear domain,” he said.
That last point is likely to cause friction. The United States previously handed Iran its own 15-point framework, which placed the complete shutdown of Iran’s nuclear programme front and centre among its demands, alongside the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iranian support for armed groups across the region. Iran flatly rejected that proposal, with one official saying Tehran would end the war on its own terms and its own timeline.
Trump, speaking to reporters in Florida before boarding Air Force One on Saturday, confirmed he had been briefed on the broad outline of Iran’s new plan. His tone was blunt. He said he could not imagine the proposal would be acceptable, arguing that Iran had not yet suffered enough consequences for decades of hostility toward the rest of the world.
He added a pointed warning, if Iran stepped out of line, there was every possibility that American airstrikes could resume. The fragile ceasefire that has been in place since April 7, brokered through Pakistan, is now entering its fourth week but remains deeply unstable. Both sides have already been accused of violating its terms.
Adding to the complexity, Trump’s chief negotiator Steve Witkoff was spotted at the president’s Doral golf club in Florida attending the PGA Cadillac Championship when news of Iran’s confirmation broke. Reporters caught up with Witkoff as he emerged from Trump’s viewing stand, pressing him for an update on where talks stood. He gave nothing away.
The stakes of this diplomatic standoff could not be higher. The war has choked global oil supplies, pushed fuel prices to painful highs across the world, and drawn Lebanon into the fighting after Hezbollah launched attacks against Israel.
Pakistan and China have both played active roles in trying to hold the ceasefire together, and the world is watching to see whether this latest exchange of proposals will lead to a genuine breakthrough or simply another dead end. For now, Iran is reviewing. Washington is watching. And the clock is ticking.
