Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

“The end of the war will occur when Iran decides it should end, not when Trump envisions its conclusion,” said an Iranian official.

Iranian state media reported Wednesday that Iran has rejected the Trump administration’s 15-point ceasefire plan, and a senior official outlined five conditions for ending the war, which the US and Israel launched late last month.

As President Donald Trump sent thousands more troops to the Middle East, the ceasefire plan “was submitted to Iran by intermediaries from Pakistan, who have offered to host renewed negotiations between Washington and Tehran,” The Associated Press reported early Wednesday, citing an unnamed source briefed on the US proposal.

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As experts warn that a global recession could occur if Iran continues to restrict the flow of fossil fuels through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters highlighted that elevated “oil prices sank about 5% on Wednesday after reports the United States had sent Iran a 15-point proposal aimed at ending the war.”

However, “Iran has responded negatively to an American proposal aimed at ending the ongoing imposed war,” according to the Iranian state-run Press TV, which spoke with a senior political-security official.

Characterizing previous negotiations with the US—including nuclear talks in the lead-up to the current war—as deceptive, the official said that “Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met.”

In addition to the Iranian government’s demands from the recent negotiations in Geneva, the official said, the five conditions under which Iran would now agree to end the war are:

• A complete halt to “aggression and assassinations” by the enemy;
• The establishment of concrete mechanisms to ensure that the war is not reimposed;
• Guaranteed and clearly defined payment of war damages and reparations;
• The conclusion of the war across all fronts and for all resistance groups involved throughout the region; and
• Iran’s exercise of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz is and will remain Iran’s natural and legal right, and it constitutes a guarantee for the implementation of the other party’s commitments, and must be recognized.

A ceasefire is contingent upon acceptance of those conditions, and “no negotiations will be held prior to that,” the official told Press TV. “The end of the war will occur when Iran decides it should end, not when Trump envisions its conclusion.”

The Iranian government this week put the death toll from the US-Israeli assault at over 1,500. According to Reuters, the news agency of the US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran said at least 3,291 people, including 1,455 civilians, are dead. US and Israeli bombings have also damaged tens of thousands of civilian locations, including homes, schools, medical facilities, energy installations, courthouses, and United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization World Heritage sites.

There have also been civilian and military casualties across the region, including more than 1,000 people slaughtered in Israel’s bombing of Lebanon, 16 killed in Israel, and 13 confirmed deaths of US service members, according to the AP.

Speaking at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday, Secretary-General António Guterres renewed his call for the US and Israel to end their war on Iran, which he said is “out of control” and “has broken past the limits even leaders thought unimaginable.”

“The world is staring down the barrel of a wider war, a rising tide of human suffering, and a deeper global economic shock. This has gone too far,” Guterres said. “It is time to stop climbing the escalation ladder—and start climbing the diplomatic ladder, and return to full respect of international law.”

“I have remained in close contact with many from the region and around the world. A number of initiatives for dialogue and peace are underway. They must succeed,” he continued. “My message to the United States and Israel is that it is high time to end the war—as human suffering deepens, civilian casualties mount, and the global economic impact is increasingly devastating. My message to Iran is to stop attacking their neighbors that are not parties to the conflict.”

The UN chief then turned to Lebanon, which he recently visited: “There, too, the war must stop. Hezbollah must stop launching attacks into Israel. And Israel must stop its military operations and strikes in Lebanon, which are hitting civilians the hardest. The Gaza model must not be replicated in Lebanon.”

Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

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