Iran says it is reviewing US proposal but has no interest in holding talks

DUBAI: Iran is reviewing a US proposal to end the war in the Gulf but has no intention of holding talks to end the widening Middle East conflict, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday (Mar 25).

The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi suggested some willingness by Tehran to negotiate an end to the war if its demands were met.

Still, the exchange of messages through mediators "does not mean negotiations with the US", he said on state television.

"They put forward ideas in their messages that were conveyed to top authorities, and if necessary, a position will be announced by them," Araqchi said.

US President Donald Trump's 15-point proposal, sent through Pakistan, calls for removing Iran's stocks of highly enriched uranium, halting enrichment, curbing its ballistic missile program and cutting off funding for regional allies, according to three Israeli cabinet sources familiar with the plan.

The White House declined to disclose specifics of its proposal and threatened to escalate its strikes.

"If they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily, and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

A senior Israeli defence official said Israel was sceptical that Iran would agree to the terms, and that Israel was concerned US negotiators might make concessions. Israel also wants any agreement to preserve its option to conduct pre-emptive strikes, a second source said.

MARKETS RESPOND POSITIVELY TO PROPOSAL

Global equity markets regained some ground while oil prices dipped on Wednesday after reports that Washington had sent the proposal to Iran, with investors hoping for an end to a war that has disrupted global energy supplies and risks fuelling inflation.

Three Israeli cabinet sources said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet had been briefed on the US proposal. They said its terms included removing Iran's stocks of highly enriched uranium, halting enrichment, curbing its ballistic missile programme and ending funding for regional allies.

A senior Israeli defence official said Israel was sceptical Iran would agree to the terms, and that Israel was concerned that US negotiators might make concessions. Israel also wants any agreement to preserve its option to conduct pre-emptive strikes, a second source said.

The White House declined to disclose specifics of its proposal and threatened to escalate its strikes.

"If they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily, and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

TROOPS ON THE MOVE

The Pentagon is meanwhile planning to send thousands of airborne troops to the Gulf to give Trump more options to order a ground assault, sources have told Reuters, adding to two contingents of Marines already on their way. The first Marine unit, aboard a huge amphibious assault ship, could arrive around the end of the month.

Iran could open a new front at the mouth of the Red Sea if attacks are carried out on its territory, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency cited an unnamed military source as saying on Wednesday. The source said that Iran has the capability to pose a "credible threat" in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which lies between Yemen and Djibouti.

Iran's parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said his country would attack an unnamed neighbouring country if it cooperated with efforts by "the enemies" to occupy one of its islands.

Since the start of what the US calls "Operation Epic Fury", Iran has attacked countries that host US bases and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday warned that the "world is staring down the barrel of a wider war" in the region.

"It is time to stop climbing the escalation ladder - and start climbing the diplomatic ladder," he said at the UN headquarters in New York.

Geo-economic and country risk expert Rachel Ziemba said that Gulf states could be forced to move beyond diplomacy and take a more active role in the war, but they would not "do it lightly".

Any escalation in the conflict increases the risk of production and infrastructure damage, added the adjunct senior fellow at Washington-based think tank Center for a New American Security. 

"We've seen that already with natural gas, maybe more so than oil and with refineries, but anything that causes more meaningful damage could mean energy and related supply chain shocks emanating through fertiliser and other areas, could mean prices are higher for longer, more pressure on growth and more demand destruction," she told CNA's Asia First.

"That's going to impact different parts of the global economy in different ways. America's a little bit more sheltered, but I know that (people) in Asia are really having to draw on the reserves and look for those sources of resilience."

MORE STRIKES

The war has raged on with no let-up in air attacks against Iran, or in Iranian drone and missile strikes against Israel and US allies.

An Israeli military official, asked whether Israel had adjusted its military plans since Trump said talks were underway with Iran, said it was "pretty much business as usual".

The Israeli military described several new waves of attacks on Iran during the day, including one on Iran's construction of ships and submarines.

The semi-official Iranian SNN News Agency said the strikes hit a residential area in the city, with rescuers searching the rubble.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia said they had repelled fresh drone attacks. 

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had launched new attacks against Israel and US bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain.