Smoke rises from Kuwait international airport after a drone strike on fuel storage [AP Photo]
Iran has received an American 15-point plan for a ceasefire for the Iran war through intermediaries from Pakistan, officials in Islamabad said yesterday. The proposal was sent even as Washington began to move paratroopers to the Middle East to back up a contingent of Marines already heading to the region.
Iran’s military scoffed at the diplomatic efforts and launched more attacks yesterday on Israel and the Persian Gulf region, including an assault that sparked a huge fire at Kuwait International Airport, sending black smoke billowing into the sky.
The Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release details, described the 15-point plan broadly as touching on sanctions relief, civilian nuclear cooperation, a rollback of Iran’s nuclear program, monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, missile limits and access for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s attacks on regional energy infrastructure and its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped, has sent oil prices skyrocketing and rocked world markets over fears of a global energy crisis.
More US troops on the way
At least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division will be sent to the Mideast in the coming days, three people with knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.
The Pentagon is also in the process of deploying two Marine units that will add about 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the region.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that American officials are in negotiations with Iran, though he hasn’t said who they are in contact with. Iran’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which commands both the regular military and the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, suggested there are no talks.
“Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?” said Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for the headquarters.
Israel launches new strikes on Iran
The Israeli military announced it had begun new wide-scale attacks yesterday on Iran targeting government infrastructure, and witnesses reported airstrikes in the northwestern city of Qazvin.
Missile alert sirens sounded multiple times in Israel as Iran launched its own attacks, which have been a daily occurrence since Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war.
Iran also kept up the pressure on its Gulf Arab neighbors, with Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry saying it had destroyed at least eight drones in the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province, and missile alert sirens sounding in Bahrain.
Kuwait said it shot down multiple drones but one hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a fire, the General Civil Aviation Authority said. Firefighters were working to contain the blaze.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, has neared US$120 a barrel during the conflict but was trading at around $100 in morning trading as talks of a possible ceasefire helped calm prices. That’s still up nearly 40% from the start of the war.
Diplomatic efforts calm energy prices
The 15-point plan now in Iranian hands is, in essence, “a comprehensive deal” to reach a ceasefire in the war, according to an Egyptian official involved in the mediation efforts.
Also, it’s not clear who in Iran’s government has the authority to negotiate — or would be willing to, as Israel has vowed to continue killing the country’s leaders.
Mediators are pushing for a possible in-person talks between the Iranians and the Americans, perhaps as soon as Friday in Pakistan, the Egyptian official and the two Pakistani officials said.
However, that would require the Americans to immediately start traveling from the U.S. to be there in time. Meanwhile, Iranian officials likely remain worried about the Israelis, whose airstrikes in the war have killed many official, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran is also highly suspicious of the U.S., which twice under the Trump administration has attacked during high-level diplomatic talks, including with the strikes that started the current war.
“We have a very catastrophic experience with U.S. diplomacy,” Baghaei told India Today, adding that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had been in contact with Pakistani and other regional diplomats but that “there are no talks or negotiations between Iran and the United States.”
China, which sent a special envoy early in the war to push for a diplomatic solution, said yesterday it supports all efforts to de-escalate the tensions and start peace talks.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Araghchi in a call Tuesday that all parties should “seize every opportunity and window for peace” so peace talks can start as soon as possible, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing.
Zolfaghari said that the U.S. was in no position to negotiate. JON GAMBRELL, DAVID RISING, DUBAI, MDT/AP
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