WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD/BEIJING/TEHRAN/MANAMA/VIENNA – The United States has sent Iran a 15-point peace plan, via Pakistan, in an attempt to end the war with Iran, now in its fourth week, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing two unidentified officials.
The Trump administration is eager to “find an off-ramp from the conflict as it grapples with its economic fallout,” said the report.
The plan addresses Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs and discusses maritime routes, referring to the Strait of Hormuz, it said.
However, it was unclear how widely the plan, delivered by way of Pakistan, had been shared among Iranian officials and whether Iran was likely to accept it as a basis for negotiations, said the report.
It was also unclear whether Israel was on board with the proposal, the report added.
Israel’s Channel 12 also reported on Tuesday that Washington has delivered Tehran a 15-point plan for a month-long ceasefire deal.
The TV channel, citing sources familiar with the matter, said US President Donald Trump’s advisors Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are promoting the plan for an immediate pause in hostilities, using a 30-day window to finalize the 15-point plan.
The plan demands that Iran dismantle its nuclear capabilities, cease all uranium enrichment, and provide a permanent commitment to never seeking nuclear weapons, the channel reported.
Additionally, Tehran would be required to halt funding and arming allied groups in the region and guarantee that the Strait of Hormuz remains open to international shipping, the channel said, adding that in exchange, Washington is offering full sanctions relief, assistance in developing a civilian nuclear energy project in southern Iran’s Bushehr, and the removal of the “snapback” mechanism threat that enables the reimposition of previously lifted UN sanctions on Iran.
For now, there is no indication that the war will let up imminently. The White House said Tuesday that as diplomacy was underway, military strikes on Iran were continuing.
Trump: Talks with Iran continue
Trump claimed on Tuesday that negotiations between the United States and Iran are continuing, though Tehran has denied the existence of any direct or indirect talks between the two sides.
US Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are involved in the talks with Iran, Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that Tehran would like “to make a deal.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Monday denied having negotiations with the United States, the country’s official IRNA news agency reported.
Pakistan ‘ready to facilitate talks’
Subject to concurrence by the United States and Iran, Pakistan stands ready to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a social media post on Tuesday.
He said Pakistan welcomes and fully supports ongoing efforts to pursue dialogue to end the conflict in the Middle East, in the interest of peace and stability in the region and beyond.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke by phone with Shehbaz Sharif on Monday and reaffirmed Tehran’s commitment to regional cooperation, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.
Hormuz ‘is open to all’
Also on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that the Strait of Hormuz is open to all and ships can pass safely, but countries that are at war with Iran are not under consideration.
Araghchi made the remarks in a phone conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Meanwhile, the Navy Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Alireza Tangsiri, said on Tuesday that any vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz must fully coordinate with Iranian maritime authorities.
Writing on X, Tangsiri said IRGC naval forces had blocked a foreign container ship, identified as the “SELEN,” after it failed to comply with required protocols and obtain a transit permit.
New SNSC president
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has appointed Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as the new secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
The announcement was made on Tuesday by Seyyed Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications at the Iranian president’s office, in a post on social media platform X.
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Tabatabaei said the appointment was made with the consent of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
Former SNSC Secretary Ali Larijani was killed in an Israeli attack on March 17.
UAE casualty
The Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) announced on Tuesday that a member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces, a Moroccan national, was killed and several others were injured while responding to Iranian attacks targeting the kingdom.
According to the Bahrain News Agency, the BDF confirmed that personnel from both the BDF and the UAE Armed Forces sustained injures during the operation.
IAEA for maximum restraint
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief on Tuesday reiterated his call for maximum restraint following a fresh attack on Iran’s nuclear facility.
The IAEA said on social media X that it has been informed by Iran that another projectile hit the premises of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant on Tuesday.