Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: No peace, or even a ‘ceasefire,’ looks likely soon in the ongoing US-Israel war against Iran, what with Tehran pushing for its own five demands in response to Washington’s proposed 15-point ceasefire plan as US President Donald Trump continued with his boasts and rhetoric and strikes, and Iran stopped ships of even Pakistan at the Strait of Hormuz, despite Islamabad offering to broker peace on the 26th day of the raging conflict in the Middle East (West Asia).
Iran sees the Trump proposals as a strategy to buy time until thousands of US forces, on their way towards Tehran, reach the war zone in the next few days to storm the mainland, the islands, and the Strait of Hormuz.
According to media reports, Iran’s demands are: (1) Closure of all American military bases in the Gulf and reparations for attacks on Iran; (2) A new order for the Strait of Hormuz allowing Iran to collect transit fees; (3) Guarantees that the war will not restart, along with the lifting of all sanctions; (4) An end to Israel’s strikes on Iran-aligned militias, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, and (5) Permitting Iran to retain its missile programme without negotiations or limits.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Iranian demands are driven by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has consolidated power in the country after the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini.
The Trump administration appears unwilling to accept Tehran’s demands, describing them as “ridiculous and unrealistic.”
Trump’s claims
These demands came after Trump’s 15-point ceasefire plan.
Although the full 15-point plan is not yet available, it mainly focuses on Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programmes, including a demand to end uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, the New York Times reported.
The proposal was conveyed through intermediaries from Turkiye and Egypt, besides Pakistan, which has also offered to host renewed talks and broker peace. However, there is still uncertainty over whether Israel is aligned with the ceasefire proposal.
Since the war began on February 28, the US and Israel have relentlessly targeted Iran’s missile systems, launchers, production facilities and nuclear, and even civilian infrastructure. Both American and Israeli leaderships have repeatedly said they will not allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons.
Tehran has also continued missile attacks on Israel and neighbouring pro-US Arab countries and is still believed to hold around 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, the media reported.
The 15-point US proposal also addresses the issue of maritime access, particularly the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for shipping. Since the US-Israel began attacking Iran, the key waterway has been effectively blocked for most Western ships, disrupting global supplies of oil and natural gas and pushing prices higher.
President Trump has, meanwhile, taken a dozen U-turns, and claimed the US has won the war, and that Iran’s navy and air force have been completely decimated.
Speaking at an event on Tuesday, he said “We’re in negotiations right now. I can tell you, they’d like to make a deal and who wouldn’t if you were there? Look, their navy’s gone, their air force is gone, their communications are gone. pretty much everything they have is gone.”
On how hopeful he was on feasibility of the ‘peace’ negotiations with Iran, Trump said, “I think we are going to end it. I cannot tell you for sure. We have won this… We literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their country. They can’t do a thing about it. For instance, if I wanna take down that power plant, they can’t do a thing about it… They are totally defeated… Militarily, they are dead.”
Iran’s n-weapons
He reiterated that Iran will not be allowed to have any nuclear weapons.
“We will have control of anything we want. If we can end this without more lives being lost, without knocking out $10 billion electric plants, that are brand new, the apple of their eye, I would like to be able to do that. They can’t have certain things. It starts with no nuclear weapons, and they have agreed to that. There won’t be any nuclear weapons. We are in about the best bargaining position. We are way ahead of schedule. They have no navy, no air force and no missile protection,” he said.
On why he is talking about negotiations with Iran amid the ongoing West Asia conflict, Trump said, “Because they are going to make a deal… They gave us a present yesterday, and it arrived today. It was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money… It was a very significant price, and they gave it to us, and they said that they were gonna give it.
“That meant one thing to me: that we are dealing with the right people… It was oil and gas related… The leadership was killed. All gone. Khamenei was all gone, as the expression goes, the past Supreme Leader. Then the new Supreme Leader was, at a minimum, racked up pretty good… We are dealing with a group of people who turned out. The present they gave to us was very significant… They are the only ones that could have done it… It was related to the flow, to the Strait (of Hormuz).”
He said that, nevertheless, he does not trust Iran. “I don’t trust anybody. Why do you say trust? Do you think I trust them? I don’t trust them.”
Boasting that the US has killed all of Iran’s leadership, Trump said, “We have a new group, and we can easily do that, but let’s see how they turn out. This is a change in the regime because the leaders are all very different from the ones that we started off with, who created all those problems.”
On why he is pursuing with the ceasefire proposal amid the conflict, he said, “The fact that they are talking to us and they are talking sense. It all starts with: they cannot have a nuclear weapon. They said, what are the top 10? I said, number 1, 2 and 3 is they can’t have a nuclear weapon. They have agreed that they will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Iran wants to make a deal, he said. “We are in negotiations right now… The other side would like to make a deal… All of the anti-aircraft and most of their missiles are gone… Today we were gonna have the privilege of shooting down a very big electric generation plant, one of the biggest in the world… We held off based on the fact that we are negotiating.”
No peace for now
Despite hectic diplomatic efforts, however, there appears no immediate end to the conflict, which has now entered its fourth week.
Meanwhile, an Iranian military spokesman ridiculed the US ceasefire efforts, questioning Washington’s seriousness. “Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?”
“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. Not now, not ever,” he added.
It is unclear how widely the plan has been shared among Iranian officials or whether Tehran is likely to accept it as a basis for talks. There is also uncertainty over whether Israel, which has been conducting strikes on Iran alongside the US, is aligned with the proposal.
White House press spokesperson Karoline Leavitt acknowledged that diplomatic efforts are underway but stressed that military operations also continue. She said that even as negotiations are explored, Operation Epic Fury is proceeding to meet the objectives set by President Trump and the Pentagon.