Iran's diplomacy confirmed on Wednesday night that it had received and was "considering" the latest American proposal to end the war, through Pakistan, whose government has assumed, along with others, a mediating role, while Donald Trump warned that the situation is "on the edge" of concluding an agreement or resuming the armed conflict.
"We have received the views of the American side and are currently examining them," Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told state television, while also noting Tehran's "great distrust" of Washington.
He reiterated the Islamic Republic's demands, particularly the "release of frozen Iranian assets" abroad and the end of the US blockade of Iranian ports.
These statements were recorded after the second visit in a few days to Tehran by Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsen Naqvi.
On the other hand, US President Trump left the door open to diplomacy, assuring that he is not "in a hurry." "We'll see what happens. Either we reach an agreement, or we take a little tougher measures. But I hope we don't get there," the US president told reporters at Andrews Air Force Base, near Washington.
"We are on the edge, believe me. If we get good answers, this can happen very quickly. We are all ready to act. We need to get good answers. They need to be absolutely, 100% satisfactory," he insisted.
The Republican tycoon added that concluding a deal would allow Iran to save "a lot of time, energy and lives," and that it could be closed "very quickly, within a few days."
Hopes for progress in the negotiations pushed down oil prices. Brent North Sea, the benchmark for international markets, fell 5,63% to $105,02. European and US stock markets closed with net gains.
US President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a tense conversation on Tuesday about Iran, Axios and the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. They clashed over a proposal to end the war; Mr. Netanyahu was furious after the discussion, the two media outlets noted.
"Beyond the area"
On Tuesday, Donald Trump said he was giving Tehran "two or three days" to make a deal. The ultimatum was rejected by the Iranian side.
“Iran will never back down due to intimidation” and is “stepping up preparations to give a forceful response to any new attack,” Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bayer Ghalibaf said. He warned that the enemy “has not abandoned its military goals” and “is seeking a new war.”
The Revolutionary Guards – Iran's ideological army – have warned that if the war resumes, "this time it will extend far beyond the region and our devastating blows will crush you."
Since a fragile ceasefire was announced on April 8, after more than a month of war, talks between the two sides have been slow and the exchange of threats and insults has intensified.
The only meeting to date between delegations from the two sides, on April 11 in Islamabad, was fruitless. Since then, there have been tensions in the corridors.
The war, which broke out with the US and Israeli attack on Tehran on February 28, has claimed the lives of thousands of people, the vast majority of them in Iran and Lebanon, where the Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is close to Tehran, operates.
It has simultaneously caused serious turmoil in the global economy, triggering a sharp increase in oil prices and major shortages of raw materials, due to Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
"Opportunity"
In the Gulf, which is being severely tested by war, Riyadh is increasing pressure on Iran. Expressing satisfaction that US President Trump has "given diplomacy a chance", Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan suggested that Tehran seize the opportunity to avoid a new "escalation".
In retaliation for the strikes against it, Iran launched a counterattack across the region, specifically targeting the wealthy oil-producing monarchies of the Gulf, allies of Washington.
In Israel, the military raised its alert level to the maximum level, declaring itself "prepared for any development."
A major stake in the war, the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the crude oil and liquefied natural gas exported from the Middle East to the rest of the world passed before the war, remains under the control of Tehran, which formalized earlier this week the establishment of an organization responsible for overseeing the maritime artery and collecting tolls.
Some 26 ships crossed it in 24 hours, the Revolutionary Guards navy reported, including a South Korean tanker "in coordination with Iran", for the first time since the outbreak of the armed conflict, according to Seoul.
For its part, the US military announced that it had sent forces to board an Iranian-flagged crude tanker because there were "suspicions" that it was trying to violate the blockade of the Islamic Republic's ports.
Source: protothema.gr
