The Big Story 

Iran on Wednesday offered a counterproposal to end the war in the region after rejecting a ceasefire plan backed by the Trump administration. 

© AP

Leaders in Tehran are asking for sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and a complete end to “aggression” from the U.S. and Israel, among other demands.

“Iran will end the war at a time of its own choosing and only if the conditions it has set are fulfilled. It will not allow Trump to determine the timing of the war’s end,” according to a statement by Iran’s Consulate General in Mumbai posted to X.

Ultimately, the Iranian response included five “conditions for ending the war”: the acts of “aggression” coming to an end, ensuring the war will not recur, a payment of war damages and reparations, the ending of the war across all fronts involving all resistance groups, and Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Tehran said it will continue striking with “heavy blows” in the region.

Thus far, Iran has struck Kuwait International Airport and other targets in Persian Gulf countries and launched an offensive air assault amid President Trump’s Tuesday pause on strikes targeting Iranian energy infrastructure.

Trump’s initial 15-point ceasefire proposal included rollbacks to Iran’s nuclear program, a conditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz alongside a limit on missiles and sanctions relief.

Iran said its demands presented Wednesday are separate from the conditions presented during the second round of negotiations in Geneva on Feb. 27, a day before strikes began, to discuss the country’s nuclear program.

Talks were deemed progressive but resulted in no deal. 

Tehran’s leaders have now summoned Vice President Vance to conduct negotiations, alleging they feel stabbed in the back by Trump’s U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who previously led peace talks.

In Washington, meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt signaled that the U.S. was winding down its military operation in Iran, but vowed to ramp up attacks against the country if it does not agree to U.S. terms.

“We are very close to meeting the core objectives of Operation Epic Fury, and this military mission continues unabated,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House press briefing, referring to the decimation of Iran’s navy and the U.S.’s efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Of note, the Pentagon is preparing to deploy about 2,000 U.S. troops from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East.

Read the full report at thehill.com.

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