Iran has received a 15-point plan from the United States to stop the Middle East war, Pakistani officials said Wednesday, bolstering hopes for a diplomatic settlement despite Iran’s claim that it fired a volley of cruise missiles at a US aircraft carrier.
A confrontation that began on February 28 with a US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran has quickly spread throughout the region, sending oil prices rising and threatening to collapse the global economy.
In recent days, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted that talks with Iran are progressing, despite Tehran’s denial that any negotiations are taking place.
However, diplomatic work appeared to be gathering traction as two senior officials in Islamabad told AFP that American offers to end the conflict had been “conveyed to Iran” via Pakistani intermediaries.
Pakistan is being promoted as a potential mediator due to its longstanding relations with both neighboring Iran and the United States, as well as extensive contacts in the region.
Nonetheless, military activity continued unabated, with targets in Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia all under fire.
Iran’s military claimed that its cruise missiles fired at the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group “forced it to change its position” and threatened “powerful strikes” if the “hostile fleet” came into range.
Israel, a US ally, said it had targeted targets in Tehran as well as a submarine development center in Isfahan.
Shayan, 40, told AFP from Tehran, Iran, that “There is gasoline, water, and electricity. But there is a sense of helplessness in all of us. We don’t know what to do, and there’s really nothing we can do.”
On another front, Israeli airplanes bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut, a bastion of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
After the early morning attack, an AFP correspondent spotted a street covered in cracked cement and bent metal, as well as damage to the upper floors of an apartment complex.
Lebanon was drawn into the conflict when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to revenge the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to Lebanese authorities, over 1,000 people have been murdered and up to one million people have been displaced as a result of Israeli strikes over the course of three weeks.
Khalil, a man in his 30s, spoke out in Tyre, southern Lebanon, which had been nearly cut off from the rest of the country by bombs.
Khalil, who is sheltering with his small family in a theater, stated that despite the Israeli ground invasion, “we don’t want to leave our land… our heart is here,” said Khalil, sheltering with his young family in a theater.
Diplomatically, the two sides provided conflicting stories, despite the fact that regional mediators stated that work was being done behind the scenes to transfer messages.
“There is hope, but it’s too early to be optimistic,” said a diplomatic source in the region who asked to remain anonymous to discuss sensitive subjects.
The insider emphasized that both parties must be able to climb down without losing face.
In public, Iran maintained its aggressive tone, with Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warning the US: “Do not test our resolve to defend our land.”
According to Israel’s Channel 12, Trump’s plans include a cease-fire during which the parties will debate a 15-point accord that includes a restriction on Iran enriching uranium on its soil and the reopening of the critical Strait of Hormuz oil conduit.
According to the analysis, Iran would benefit from reduced sanctions. Similarly, the Trump administration proposed a 15-point plan prior to a shorter Israeli and US bombing campaign against Iran in June.
Iran agreed to broad restrictions on its controversial nuclear program in 2015, but Trump blew up the deal during his first term, joining Israel in putting pressure on the cleric-run state.
Stocks soared and oil prices fell on signals of a potential de-escalation, but attention remained focused on the Strait of Hormuz, which transports one-fifth of the world’s oil.
On Tuesday, President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Iran had given him “a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money,” demonstrating that “we’re dealing with the right people.”
The US president did not expand but stated that it was related to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has mostly blocked in retribution for US and Israeli operations.
In a telegram circulated by the International Maritime Organization, Tehran promised “non-hostile vessels” safe passage through the strait.
However, the IMO quoted a statement from Iran’s foreign ministry, which stated that no passage would be permitted to vessels belonging to “the aggressor parties—namely, the United States and the Israeli regime.”
During a visit to Tokyo, the chairman of the International Energy Agency stated that he was prepared to allow the release of more oil reserves if necessary to mitigate the war’s impact on global supply.
However, the impacts are already obvious around the world, with Sri Lanka mandating an extra day off work to conserve energy and Vietnam’s diesel prices doubling.
Nguyen Van Chi, a Hanoi resident, stated on Wednesday that he had not driven his vehicle in two weeks and had instead chosen to cycle.
“With this unbelievable price of diesel, I cannot even sell my truck, as no one is going to use it,” the 54-year-old businessman told AFP.
