CAIRO/WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) – Israel and Iran exchanged airstrikes on Wednesday, as Iran’s military rejected President Donald Trump’s assertion the U.S. was in negotiations to end the war which has roiled energy and financial markets, saying the U.S. is negotiating with itself.
The rejection of negotiations by the unified command of the Iranian Armed Forces, which is dominated by the hardline elite Revolutionary Guards, comes amid reports the U.S. has sent a 15-point plan for discussion to Tehran.
“Has the level of your inner struggle reached the stage of you (Trump) negotiating with yourself?” the top spokesperson for Iran’s joint military command, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, said on Iranian state TV.
“People like us can never get along with people like you.”
“As we have always said … no one like us will make a deal with you. Not now. Not ever.”
Iran’s leadership has previously said it cannot negotiate with the U.S. as Washington has attacked the country twice during high-level negotiations in the past two years.
Iran had a “very bad experience with American diplomacy,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told India Today on Tuesday. There was no dialogue or negotiations with Washington, as Iran’s armed forces are focused on defending the country, he added.
Four weeks into the war that has killed thousands, created the worst energy shock in history and sparked global inflation fears, there was no letup in airstrikes from Iran and Israel on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said in a Telegram post it had launched a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure across Tehran. It later said its air force had struck two naval cruise missile production sites in Tehran.
The semi-official Iranian SNN News Agency said the strikes hit a residential area in the city, with rescuers searching the rubble.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia said they had repelled fresh drone attacks, without saying where they came from. Drones targeted a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, causing a fire but no casualties, Kuwait’s Civil Aviation Authority said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it had launched a new wave of attacks against locations in Israel including Tel Aviv and Kiryat Shmona, as well as U.S. bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain, Iranian state media reported.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday the U.S. was in “negotiations” with “the right people” in Iran to end the war, adding the Iranians wanted to reach a deal very badly.
Stocks rose and oil prices fell on Wednesday on reports the U.S. is seeking a month-long ceasefire and had sent a 15-point plan to Iran for discussion, raising hopes for a resumption of oil exports out of the Persian Gulf.
REPORT OF 15-POINT PLAN SENT TO IRAN
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Washington sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war in the Middle East. Israel’s Channel 12, quoting three sources, said the U.S. was seeking a month-long ceasefire to discuss the 15-point plan.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed that the U.S. had sent a plan to Iran but provided no further details.
The Israeli media outlet said the plan would include the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme, ceasing support for proxy groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 after saying they had failed to make enough headway in talks aimed at ending Iran’s nuclear programme, although mediator Oman said significant progress had been made. The U.S. struck Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025.
Since the start of “Operation Epic Fury” by the U.S. in February, Iran has attacked countries that host U.S. bases, struck Gulf energy infrastructure and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.
Iran has told the United Nations Security Council and the International Maritime Organization that “non-hostile vessels” may transit the Strait of Hormuz if they coordinate with Iranian authorities, according to a note seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
The effective closure of the waterway, where 20% of the world’s oil and gas normally transits, has created the worst energy supply shock in history, sent fuel prices soaring, and disrupted global aviation.
Asia is at the frontline of the fuel crisis, buying more than 80% of the crude that transits the Strait of Hormuz, and governments there are scrambling to respond to fuel shortages with policies such as enforced work-from-home and stimulus measures enforced during the COVID pandemic era. Some countries have declared public holidays and closed schools.
The International Energy Agency has agreed to a record release of around 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles to deal with the crisis, and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi asked IEA chief Fatih Birol for an additional release of oil when they met on Wednesday, Jiji Press reported.
PAKISTAN OFFERS TO HOLD US-IRAN TALKS
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday he was willing to host talks between the U.S. and Iran on ending the war, a day after Trump postponed threats to bomb Iranian power plants after what he called “productive” talks.
Pakistan has long-standing ties to neighbouring Iran’s Islamic Republic and has been building a relationship with Trump.
Despite reports of negotiations, the Pentagon is expected to send thousands of soldiers from the U.S. Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday, adding to a massive U.S. military buildup.
The forces will add to the 50,000 U.S. troops already in the region and accelerate Washington’s massive U.S. military buildup there, fuelling fears of a longer conflict.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus Writing by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Michael Perry and Andrew Heavens)
Comments