Tehran Signals Readiness for Diplomacy or War as Ceasefire Negotiations Stall
Iran declared on Saturday that the diplomatic initiative is now Washington's to act upon, after Tehran formally submitted a comprehensive 14-point peace proposal to Pakistan, the chief mediator in ongoing negotiations aimed at ending the 2026 US-Israeli war against Iran. Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi made the announcement before a gathering of foreign ambassadors and diplomatic mission heads in Tehran, signalling that Iran has made its position clear and now awaits a response from the United States.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has submitted its plan to Pakistan as the mediator with the aim of permanently ending the imposed war, and now the ball is in the US court to choose between a diplomatic solution or a continuation of the confrontational approach," Gharibabadi said, according to Iran's state broadcaster IRIB.
The deputy minister added that Iran is prepared for either outcome. "Iran, with the aim of securing its national interests and security, is prepared for both paths," he said, while acknowledging that Tehran approaches negotiations with persistent skepticism toward the United States, citing Washington's track record in prior rounds of talks.
What Iran's 14-Point Proposal Contains
According to Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency, Tehran's 14-point plan was submitted in response to a nine-point US proposal and is focused squarely on "ending the war" rather than extending a ceasefire. The Iranian plan reportedly demands non-aggression guarantees, the withdrawal of US forces from the vicinity of Iran, the lifting of the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, the release of Iran's frozen assets abroad, the removal of sanctions, and — crucially — an end to the war "on all fronts," including in Lebanon.
Tehran has also pushed back on the proposed timeline for a resolution. Washington had requested a ceasefire with a two-month deadline, but Iran insists that all outstanding issues must be resolved within 30 days. Tasnim reported that Iran is currently awaiting the US response to its proposal.
A key feature of the Iranian proposal is its sequencing strategy: Tehran wants to settle the immediate war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz before engaging in any substantive nuclear negotiations. According to Axios and other outlets citing US and regional officials, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had already raised this approach with Pakistani, Egyptian, Turkish, and Qatari mediators in late April, making clear that there is no internal consensus in the Iranian leadership on what nuclear concessions to offer.
Background: A Fragile Ceasefire and Stalled Talks
The US-Israeli military campaign against Iran began on February 28, 2026. After nearly 40 days of fighting — which killed thousands, displaced millions across the region, and severely disrupted global oil markets — Pakistan brokered a two-week ceasefire that took effect on April 8. The truce, which has since been extended, followed a series of increasingly dire threats from President Donald Trump, who had set an April 7 deadline for Iran to agree to a deal or face the destruction of its energy infrastructure.
A first round of direct US-Iran talks was held in Islamabad on April 11, but collapsed after Iranian officials accused the American delegation of making maximalist demands. The US team, led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and including Jared Kushner, sought Iranian commitments to suspend uranium enrichment for at least a decade and remove enriched uranium from the country — conditions Tehran rejected outright. Pakistan's subsequent attempts to organize a second round of talks have also failed to materialize.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the central flashpoint. Iran has largely kept the strait closed since the war began, a move that has sent global oil prices soaring and disrupted shipping for roughly 20 percent of the world's seaborne oil trade. Iran briefly agreed to allow commercial shipping during a Lebanon ceasefire window in mid-April, but reimposed restrictions after the US refused to lift its own naval blockade of Iranian ports — a counter-blockade Trump announced on April 13.
US Skepticism and Trump's Response
Early signals from Washington suggest the Iranian proposal is unlikely to be accepted in its current form. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to dismiss any Iranian offer to clear the strait that did not simultaneously address Tehran's nuclear program. US officials told CNBC that President Trump and his national security team discussed Iran's plan in a Situation Room meeting, but the White House's public posture has been skeptical. Analysts note that agreeing to Iran's sequencing — reopening the strait before nuclear talks begin — would remove Trump's primary source of leverage.
Trump, who had at various points threatened to reduce Iranian "civilization" to rubble and urged Tehran to "get smart soon," told reporters last week that Iran had submitted a "much better" offer without elaborating on its contents. Trump also previously stated on Truth Social that the US naval blockade would remain in place until negotiations with Iran are concluded, even as the Strait has nominally been reopened to some commercial traffic.
Iran's Defiant Tone at Home
Saturday's diplomatic overture from Gharibabadi came alongside continued defiant rhetoric from other Iranian officials. Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei — who assumed leadership following the death of his father Ali Khamenei in early airstrikes — vowed in a recent address to defend Iran's nuclear and missile programs and declared that Americans belong "at the bottom" of the Persian Gulf. Iran's judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, separately insisted that Tehran "does not accept imposition" while affirming it has "never shied away from negotiations."
Gharibabadi's meeting with the ambassadors of China and Russia to Iran immediately preceded his public address, reflecting Tehran's ongoing efforts to shore up backing from its major geopolitical partners as the diplomatic standoff with Washington deepens.
Analyst View
Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and host of The Iran Podcast, described Iran's proposal as "reasonable" given the global dimensions of the Strait of Hormuz crisis. "Both Tehran and Washington need to immediately focus on reforming the Strait," she said. "Tehran will not move if the US doesn't lift its blockade, and Washington will not do so if Iran does not open the strait. So this can be a good first step towards a more permanent ceasefire, and then after reducing tension, the two sides can talk about other issues."
As of Saturday, Iran is awaiting a formal US response to the 14-point plan. The diplomatic standoff leaves the ceasefire — and global energy markets — in a precarious state, with no second round of direct negotiations yet scheduled and both sides continuing to maintain their rival blockades on one of the world's most strategically vital waterways.
Reporting compiled from Press TV, Al Jazeera, Axios, CNBC, France 24, UPI, The Tribune (India), and The Manila Times. May 2–3, 2026.