March 26 (Reuters) – The United States, Israel and Iran have laid out maximalist positions to end warfare that has set the Middle East aflame and threatened the global economy by choking off Gulf energy supplies.
This is what the sides are saying about their positions in the conflict in which the U.S. and Israel have launched airstrikes on Iran since February 28 and Iran has carried out strikes against Israel, U.S. bases and Gulf states.
WHAT ARE THE AMERICANS SAYING?
U.S. President Donald Trump has passed a 15-point plan to Iran via Pakistan.
It has not been published and the U.S. administration has declined to disclose specifics of the plan. It has said that some media reports on what is in it are incorrect, without elaborating.
Three Israeli cabinet sources have said the plan includes:
* The removal of Iran’s stocks of highly enriched uranium.
* An end to Iran’s uranium enrichment programme.
* Curbs to Iran’s ballistic missile programme.
* An end to Iran’s support for regional allies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
The U.S. will hit Iran “harder than they have ever been hit before” if Tehran fails to accept the proposal, the White House said on Wednesday.
Washington is expected to send thousands more soldiers to the Middle East, two people familiar with the matter have told Reuters.
WHAT IS THE IRANIAN POSITION?
A senior Iranian official has told Reuters that Iran’s response to the U.S. proposals on ending the war has not been “positive”, but that Tehran is still reviewing it.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday that Tehran was not negotiating with the U.S. although messages were being exchanged through intermediaries.
He said Iran demanded a permanent end to the war and compensation for destruction.
Iran demands sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz as its “natural, legal right”, Iran’s Press TV cited an official as saying on Wednesday.
Tehran has told intermediaries that Israel’s war in Lebanon must be included in any ceasefire agreement, six regional sources familiar with Tehran’s position have told Reuters.
Without a ceasefire, Iran has also pointed to its own ability to escalate, saying it could take action to choke off another major sea route, the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, which offers an alternative export route for some Gulf oil.
It also said it had intelligence that the United States planned to occupy an Iranian island with support from a regional country, and that if it did so, it would attack vital infrastructure in that country, without naming it.
WHAT ARE THE ISRAELIS SAYING?
A senior Israeli defence official said Israel was skeptical Iran would agree to the U.S. terms, but was also concerned that Trump might make concessions.
Israel wants any agreement to preserve its option to conduct pre-emptive strikes, a second source said.
Israel’s military spokesperson said on Thursday that the mission at the moment was to continue to destroy Iran’s military capabilities and that Israel has “many more targets left.”
(Reporting by Reuters Middle East and Washington newsrooms, Compiled by Angus McDowall, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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