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Iran has delivered its response to the US 15-point peace plan, including asserting its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, according to state media.
Donald Trump urged Iran to “get serious” about reaching an agreement to end the four-week conflict “before it is too late”, in a Truth Social post on Thursday morning.
The comments came ahead of a Friday deadline set by the president for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or the US would “obliterate” the country’s energy infrastructure.
Trump added in his post that Iran was “begging” to make a deal.
Oil prices climbed to as high as $108 a barrel amid scepticism over whether Iran and the US could strike a deal.
Military strikes continued. Israel said it had killed the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp’s navy, saying he was responsible for “mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz to shipping”.
Iran responds to US plan with its own counterproposals
Iran has responded to the US plan to end the war, calling the initiative a “deception” and presenting its own counterproposals that include demands for reparations.
Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, quoted an unnamed Iranian official who outlined Tehran’s response to the 15-point US plan delivered via intermediaries.
Demands include an end to assassinations, guarantees that the conflict will not restart and reparations for Iran’s suffering during the war. Tehran also wants a halt to attacks on “resistance groups” involved in the conflict — a reference to Hizbollah and Iraqi militias.
The official also asserted that Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz was a “legal and natural right”. He said the demands went beyond the proposals Iran had raised during the last round of talks before the war, without providing further details.
Saudi Arabia’s FM says supply chain disruption from prolonged war would exceed that of Covid
Saudi Arabia’s finance minister has said global oil and commodity markets are facing a greater disruption to supply chains than the Covid pandemic if the Iran war was not resolved quickly.
Speaking at the FII Forum investment event in Miami, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan said:
“Obviously oil has taken the centre stage in terms of media coverage but it is not just oil that has been significantly impacted. It is refined products, it’s fertilisers, it is in aluminium and feeds, and petrochemicals.
“We need to resolve the conflict quickly and come together for the global economy to not be impacted even more . . . It is an impact that is more severe than even we have seen post Covid.”