Wars 2026 02/28 Israel-Iran War 3.0

Wars 2026 02/28 Israel-Iran War 3.0
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Iran says it receives US response to Gulf ceasefire revival proposal


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People ride on motorcycles as they participate in a march in Tehran, Iran, on September 25, 2026. — WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran said on Wednesday it had received a US response to its latest proposal to resurrect the collapsed ceasefire in the Gulf, days after President Donald Trump said he had rejected it.

Iran's allies were celebrating on Wednesday after Washington withdrew the last of its forces from neighbouring Iraq, ‌where 4,500 US troops died in the biggest US war of the century. More than 200,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in chaos unleashed after US forces toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Tehran views the pullout as a victory for its "axis of resistance" of allied armed groups, and a step towards its aim of driving US forces out of the region.

With the US-Israeli war against Iran now entering its eighth month, Iran put forward a proposal last week under which the United States would lift its blockade of Iranian ports and Iran would reopen the disrupted Strait of Hormuz within seven days.

Trump said on Sunday he had rejected the proposal, although Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran had not received a formal rejection. In a post on X on Wednesday, an Iranian government spokesperson said Araqchi had conveyed a US response ⁠to the Iranian government.

Iran says its plan aims to restore an interim agreement which collapsed weeks after it was signed by Trump and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian in June.

Last week, Qatari mediators shuttled between US and Iranian envoys in New York on the sidelines of a meeting of the United Nations, the first proximity talks between the warring sides since the ceasefire unravelled.

An official briefed on the talks, who is not Iranian and spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the Qataris had briefed Araqchi on the US response on Tuesday when Araqchi stopped off in Doha on his way home from New York. According to the official, the sides largely agree about the steps that are needed but still disagree about the order in which to take them.

Iran wants an eventual deal to grant it control over the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil shipping route, which runs past its coast.

Shipping through the strait has increased in recent weeks, with shippers charging high fees to brave the risk of attacks. But flows of crude oil, refined products and natural gas remain substantially disrupted. In the latest incidents, Britain's UKMTO maritime security body reported on Wednesday that two ships had been hit by projectiles the previous day.

US WITHDRAWAL SEEN IN IRAQ AS DEFEAT FOR WASHINGTON

US and Iraqi officials announced the withdrawal of the last ‌American troops from ⁠bases in Iraq on Wednesday, fulfilling a plan agreed in 2024 under President Joe Biden and carried out by the Trump administration while it wages war with Iran next door.

The withdrawal was celebrated by Iran and its allies. It marked an "historic victory for the Iraqi Islamic resistance groups and honourable Iraqis, and a crushing defeat for the American project," said Abu Mojtaba al-Yasiri, a commander in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions.

Iraq, which the United States invaded in 2003, has a Shi'ite majority like Iran, and Tehran has established broad political and military influence there.

The country has frequently become a proxy battlefield between the United States and Iran. Of the 18 US service members listed as killed since Trump ⁠launched "Operation Epic Fury" in February, seven died in Iraq. Washington blames Iran-backed groups in Iraq for striking neighbouring countries, most recently knocking out a big Saudi oil pipeline three weeks ago.

The US withdrawal raises "the possibility that Iran's proxies will feel increasingly empowered in the absence of a Western military presence," said Baghdad-based political analyst Ahmed Younis. "These groups may attempt to expand their role in shaping state policies and consolidating their presence within key institutions."

At home in the United States, polls show the Iran war was ⁠unpopular from the outset. The disruption to global energy supplies and resulting surge in fuel prices have hurt Trump's Republicans, trying to hang on to both houses of Congress in legislative elections five weeks away.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps urged Americans on Tuesday to vote out Trump's allies.

"Remove from power the evil, deceitful, and violent politicians who are responsible for America’s current state," they wrote in a 26-page letter to US voters. "Make sure your politicians understand ⁠that the world has changed."

The war has intensified an economic crisis inside Iran, but Tehran has retained the ability to strike its neighbours and menace ships in the strait, where a fifth of global oil transited before the war. Trump says the war will be over soon and Iran will ultimately surrender.

"I don't know if they are going to give up yet but they'll give up," he told reporters on Tuesday. "They are doing very poorly."​
 

Iran tells US there is no military solution to Middle East war

AFP
Tehran

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Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on 6 September 2026 REUTERS

Iran’s top diplomat insisted on Sunday that there would be no military solution to the United States’ war against the Islamic republic, with talks on ending the conflict apparently at an impasse.

A campaign of heavy bombardment failed to bring a decisive close to the war launched by the US and Israel in late February, and Washington in recent weeks has dialled back military operations in favour of economic pressure.

The main point of contention remains Iran’s attempt to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for Gulf oil and gas where a UK maritime agency reported on Sunday another tanker was struck by an unknown projectile.

“If our enemies again choose the path of military confrontation, our response will be stronger than before, and we will defend ourselves with even more force,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at a gathering of foreign ambassadors.

“There is no military solution, nor any solution based on new sanctions,” he continued, adding “only negotiations based on justice and fairness” could end the conflict.

The two sides agreed a memorandum of understanding in June that spelled out a framework for a permanent resolution, but Iranian attacks on vessels in the Hormuz prompted a return to US military operations.

Iran has sought to impose its control over the vital shipping lane since the start of the war, striking vessels that attempt to transit without its authorisation.

The US has imposed its own counterblockade of Iranian ports, and has also struck vessels it accuses of violating it.

On Sunday, the British maritime security agency UKMTO said a tanker in the Hormuz “reported being struck by an unknown projectile, causing damage to the engine room”, though the crew were reported safe and no environmental impact was recorded.

The agency did not specify the date of the incident, the vessel’s origin or destination, or whether it was an oil tanker or LNG carrier.

In Iran, oil minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned, the president’s office said on Sunday, as the US maintains a blockade on the country’s oil exports.

In a news bulletin on the minister’s resignation, state television ran an interview with an official from the Iranian presidential office who said Paknejad initially offered to quit a while ago “due to personal issues” but this was rejected.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had asked Paknejad to continue in his post but was now accepting his departure as the minister had insisted on leaving, the official added.

Paknejad has been replaced by Hamid Bovard, the chief executive of the National Iranian Oil Company, the presidency said.

Focused on Hormuz

Iranian and US officials last week held indirect talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, with Tehran saying it presented seven conditions for reopening the strait.

Iran has demanded, among other things, a ceasefire across the Middle East, the unfreezing of its assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade.

Trump, however, rejected the proposal, while leaving the door open both to further talks or renewed military operations.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Sunday that the US had expressed its views on the proposal and said they were being reviewed.

“The Americans, through intermediaries, have also conveyed their views on this proposal, and these views are currently being examined inside the country through the relevant channels and procedures,” he told reporters, according to state news agency IRNA.

“Whenever the final position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready, appropriate steps will be taken accordingly. At the same time, the Islamic Republic of Iran is also preparing itself for any other possible scenario.”

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei on Sunday characterised the latest US counterproposal as being “in line with their previous proposals concerning nuclear issues”.

“We have clearly indicated that we are focusing on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, adding that reopening the waterway required “an end to the disruptions to Iranian commercial maritime traffic and the lifting of sanctions”.

The United States and Israel have said the war is necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons—a goal it has long denied pursuing—though the focus soon shifted to reopening the Hormuz after its closure sent shockwaves through world energy markets.

The United States has not struck Iran since September 1, but it has recently pursued a fresh military buildup in the region.​
 

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