The American promise of peace negotiations, which calmed the markets, will it succeed? Iran and the United States are currently negotiating to try to end the conflict, Donald Trump said on Tuesday, March 24, adding that his emissary Steve Witkoff, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Vice President J.D. Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are participating in the process. However, Iran has not confirmed any negotiations at this time.
Several media outlets, including the New York Times and the Israeli television channel Channel 12, report that the Trump administration has proposed a 15-point peace plan to Iran through Pakistan, which has good relations with both parties. According to three unidentified sources cited by Channel 12, the United States is proposing a one-month ceasefire to allow Iranian authorities to study their demands.
According to the Israeli channel, among the 15 points, five concern the Iranian nuclear program, others require the abandonment of support for Iran’s allies in the region, such as Hezbollah or Hamas, and one point insists that the Strait of Hormuz remain open to maritime navigation. In return, Iran would receive a lifting of international sanctions against it and support for its civilian nuclear program.
“Iran has just stated that ‘non-hostile ships’ can now ‘benefit from safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the competent authorities’,” according to the International Maritime Organization. Nearly 20% of the world’s hydrocarbon production transits through this strategic strait, the recent blockage of which by Tehran in recent weeks has caused oil prices to soar. Donald Trump referred on Tuesday to “a very big gift” related to hydrocarbons, without providing specifics, which could be linked to this partial reopening of the strait.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, mentioned as the US interlocutor by the news site Axios, denied any negotiations taking place. Iranian diplomacy only acknowledged at the beginning of the week having received, through “friendly countries,” messages conveying a US request for negotiations.
At the same time, the war shows no signs of easing with new waves of Israeli attacks against Iran and Lebanon, as well as new missile and drone strikes by Iran towards Israel, Jordan, and several Gulf countries. According to Israeli rescuers, twelve people were injured near Tel Aviv on Tuesday night by one or more Iranian missiles. In Kuwait, a drone attack set fire to a fuel reservoir at the airport, according to the country’s Civil Aviation Authority, which did not report any casualties.
Meanwhile, as in previous nights, the Israeli army announced that it had “launched a series of strikes targeting the infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime in Tehran.” Israel also continues its offensive in Lebanon, where at least nine people were killed in three raids in the south of the country on Tuesday night, considered by Israel as a stronghold of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement, according to the Lebanese news agency ANI. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Israeli forces were “maneuvering inside Lebanese territory to seize an advanced defense line” up to the Litani River, about 30 km from the border.
