Iran demands that the US accept its 14-point peace proposal, which Washington immediately rejected.
On May 13, according to AFP, Iranian officials stated that Washington must accept Tehran's 14-point peace proposal or face defeat. However, US President Donald Trump immediately rejected it, warning that the ceasefire in the Middle East was on the verge of collapse.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that its proposal calls for an end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, the lifting of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, and the release of Tehran's frozen assets abroad. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a senior Iranian official, emphasized that this is the only solution and that further delays by the US will only increase the cost to Iranian taxpayers. The cost of the US war has already reached nearly $29 billion.
In response, US President Donald Trump called Tehran's proposal "completely unacceptable." He asserted that the US would achieve a "total victory" over Iran, and stated that the current ceasefire "is breathing its last."
The heated war of words has caused world oil prices to skyrocket. Iran is now restricting maritime traffic and imposing tolls on passage through the Strait of Hormuz – a vital route for transporting one-fifth of the world's oil and gas.
According to US intelligence, Iran still maintains about 70% of its pre-war mobile missile launchers and stockpiles, and has restored access to 30 out of 33 missile bases along the Strait of Hormuz. In response, Australia announced it would join a coalition led by France and the UK to protect maritime security through the region.
On the ground, despite the ceasefire agreement of April 17, violence continues to escalate. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, Israeli airstrikes in the south of the country yesterday killed 13 people. Since March 2, the conflict in Lebanon has claimed the lives of more than 2,880 people.
On the Hezbollah side, leader Naim Qassem declared that the group's weapons would not be on the agenda of the upcoming round of negotiations. He affirmed that Hezbollah would "not give up the battlefield" and was determined to fight to the end.
