US Insists Talks Ongoing Even as Iran Rejects Trump Outreach

The White House insisted that peace talks with Iran are ongoing, even as Tehran publicly rejected US overtures and issued fresh conditions of its own to end the conflict that’s wreaked havoc across the Middle East and global markets. “The United States has been engaged over the last three days in productive conversations,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday. “You’re beginning to see the regime look for an exit ramp.” Bloomberg News Middle East Reporter Dan Williams joins Bloomberg Businessweek Daily to discuss. He speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec. US President Donald Trump threatened Iran with intensified military action and said he’s unsure whether a diplomatic agreement can be reached, with the two sides at loggerheads on how to end the near month-long war.

Iran had “better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!” Trump posted on social media Thursday, after Tehran rejected an initial US ceasefire proposal via intermediaries overnight.

Iran has “great negotiators, and they are begging to work out a deal,” the president said later during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that.”

The Islamic Republic is waiting for a response to its rejection of a US 15-point plan to end the war, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. Tehran has a string of its own conditions, Tasnim said, one of which is a guarantee that the US and Israel won’t resume their attacks. Oil prices surged on the developments, with optimism fading of a quick resolution to the impasse. Brent crude climbed 6% to more than $108 a barrel, while stocks and bonds fell worldwide.

The US has compiled a list of a dozen demands — alongside three points Iran would get in return — that have been delivered to Tehran by mediators in Pakistan, according to people familiar with the matter. US envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed the 15-point proposal on Thursday, without giving details, and said it had led to “strong and positive messaging and talks.”

Iran’s conditions to agree to a ceasefire include the payment of reparations for war damages and recognition of Iran’s authority over the Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim said, citing an informed source.  Trump is under pressure to persuade Tehran to reopen the critical waterway for oil and gas flows, a step needed to arrest a global supply shock. On Thursday, he said Iran allowed 10 boats of oil to sail through the strait as a gesture of goodwill.

Iran is also calling for an end to the war on all fronts, Tasnim reported, a likely reference to Israel’s parallel war against the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

Read More: US Troop Movements Fan Fears of a Risky Ground Attack on Iran

Trump’s threat of escalation came after the White House ordered more troops to the region, with some set to arrive before week’s end. On Thursday, he repeated an earlier timeline of four- to six-weeks for military operations and said the US war effort is “ahead of schedule.”

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