Trump Administration Offers 15-Point De-escalation Plan to Iran Amid Ongoing Conflict

The United States has presented Iran with a 15-point plan to end the war in the Middle East, transmitting the proposal through Pakistan as an intermediary, according to multiple media reports citing officials briefed on the diplomacy. The plan was delivered to Tehran late on Tuesday, according to a source who spoke to the Associated Press but was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The New York Times, Axios, and the Wall Street Journal all reported on the proposal, citing informed US officials, though no independent confirmation has emerged. US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about the prospects for a deal, saying the US was "talking to the right people" and that Iran "absolutely" wanted to reach an agreement. Trump also mentioned that Iranian representatives had conveyed a "gift" to the United States, which he said demonstrated that talks were progressing with the right interlocutors. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance are involved in the negotiations on the US side, Trump confirmed. Iran's leadership, however, has publicly denied that any negotiations are taking place, pledging to fight "until complete victory."

Plan demands nuclear dismantlement, Hormuz reopening The 15-point proposal contains sweeping demands targeting Iran's military and nuclear capabilities, according to reports from the New York Times, Axios, and the Wall Street Journal. Washington is calling for the destruction of key facilities within Iran's nuclear program, a halt to uranium enrichment, and an end to the production of ballistic missiles. Iran would also be required to surrender its existing stocks of enriched uranium. A central economic and strategic demand is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has made largely impassable since the war began, severely disrupting global oil shipments and driving up energy prices worldwide. In exchange, the United States has offered to ease the harsh sanctions currently imposed on Iran, and according to La Razón, the plan also implicitly abandons the earlier goal of regime change, allowing the current theocratic government to remain in power. US special envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly told Trump that Iranian officials had already agreed on several central points, including a willingness to relinquish enriched uranium stocks, according to Axios. The proposal also includes an offer of a one-month pause in fighting to allow broader negotiations to proceed, according to tagesschau.de. 15 (points) — number of demands in US ceasefire proposal to Iran

Iran mocks offer, Revolutionary Guards issue counter-demands Iran's military leadership responded to the reported plan with open mockery and a flat rejection of any suggestion that negotiations were underway. Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, dismissed the reports in a statement aired on Iranian state television. „Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?” — Ebrahim Zolfaghari via Associated Press Zolfaghari added that the United States should not "dress up your defeat as an agreement" and declared that Iran's armed forces would never reach terms with Washington. The Wall Street Journal separately reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had issued its own counter-demands, including the evacuation of all US military bases around the Persian Gulf and the establishment of a toll system granting Iran the right to levy fees on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Reports indicated that Iran had already begun demanding payments in the millions from certain merchant vessels. Those demands are considered unacceptable in Washington, according to the Berliner Zeitung. Behind the scenes, Pakistan, Egypt, and several Gulf Arab nations are attempting to facilitate discussions, though those efforts remain at a preliminary stage, according to The Independent.

US deploys more troops even as Trump signals diplomacy The diplomatic overture is unfolding alongside a simultaneous US military buildup in the region, creating a contradictory picture of Washington's intentions. The Pentagon is in the process of deploying a pair of Marine Expeditionary Units that will add approximately 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the Gulf, according to TheJournal.ie. The US Army is also preparing to deploy soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division, with the Washington Post reporting a figure of around 3,000 troops and the New York Times citing approximately 2,000, according to tagesschau.de. Those forces would supplement the roughly 50,000 US troops already in the region, according to TheJournal.ie. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth captured the dual-track approach bluntly when he said, in front of cameras, "We negotiate with bombs," according to N-tv. Israeli officials, who have been advocating for Trump to continue the war, were reportedly taken by surprise by the submission of the ceasefire plan, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke to the Associated Press. Oil prices temporarily fell below $100 per barrel following reports of the peace plan, according to SRF News and the Berliner Zeitung, reflecting market sensitivity to any signal of potential de-escalation in a conflict that has disrupted global energy supplies since it began on February 28, 2026.

The war between the United States, Israel, and Iran began on February 28, 2026, when the two allies launched strikes on Iranian targets. Ali Khamenei, Iran's longtime Supreme Leader, was killed in the initial strikes. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was appointed Supreme Leader on March 9, 2026. The Strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively closed at the outset of the conflict, is a critical chokepoint for global oil and gas transport, and its blockade has sent energy prices sharply higher worldwide. The conflict has also drawn in Lebanon and other parts of the wider Middle East, with airstrikes and missile exchanges continuing across the region.