Iran has sent Pakistan a ten-point response to US proposals to end the war, rejecting a temporary truce and demanding a permanent cessation of hostilities, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported on 6 April.
The response, which IRNA describes as the result of two weeks of discussions at the highest levels of the Iranian leadership, sets out a number of conditions, including a final cessation of hostilities throughout the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a commitment to reconstruction, and the lifting of sanctions.
The report published by IRNA did not provide further details.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei earlier said of Tehran’s position. “The ceasefire means creating a pause for regrouping and re-committing offences. No rational person would do this,” he said at his weekly press conference on 6 April.
Iranian officials have made clear they do not want to find themselves in a situation like Gaza or Lebanon, where ceasefires on paper have made them vulnerable to renewed attacks.
The response came as US President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran nears. According to Trump, if Iran does not agree to an agreement or open the Strait of Hormuz by the evening of 7 April (night of 8 April Kiev time), it will suffer strikes on key infrastructure, particularly power plants and bridges.
The joint United States-Israeli operation against Iran, which began on 28 February, resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a significant number of other senior Iranian regime officials.
In response, Iran’s military attacked not only Israel or US military installations in the region with missiles and drones, but also many of its regional neighbours, which Tehran considers allies of the United States.
Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the world’s oceans. The Strait is of strategic importance because it is the route through which oil from the oil-producing countries of the Persian Gulf flows to the world market.