Iran-US war latest: Oil prices fall after Trump offers ‘15-point’ peace plan and says Tehran will never get nukes
Trump claims Tehran agreed never to have nuclear weaponOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchIran has poured cold water on Donald Trump’s reassurances that diplomacy is back on track, insisting that the military will “never come to terms with someone like you” and suggesting the US is negotiating with itself.Battling ailing markets and a tanking approval rating, the US president offered Iran a 15-point plan to end the war via mediators from Pakistan, according to reports in US and Israeli media.Trump told reporters late on Tuesday that Iran “want to make a deal so badly” and has agreed to “never have a nuclear weapon”.But on Wednesday, Iran’s main military command appeared to rubbish the idea, asking whether “the level of your internal conflict reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?”Spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari said in a message carried by Iranian media that “someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you - not now, not ever”.Iran meanwhile said that it has opened the Strait of Hormuz for "non-hostile vessels" so long as they coordinate with the Iranian authorities, offering a lifeline to markets disrupted by the war in the Middle East.At the same time, the Pentagon has ordered about 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to begin moving to the Middle East, the New York Times reported, citing defence officials. Pedro Sanchez says Netanyahu 'seeks to inflict the same destruction' in Lebanon as in GazaSpeaking in the Spanish congress this morning, president Pedro Sanchez says that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to inflict upon Lebanon the same destruction as in Gaza.Sanchez, who appeared before the lower house to explain his government's stance against the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, added that Iran's new Supreme Leader was more hardline than his predecessor."Mojtaba Khamenei is an equally dictatorial and even more bloodthirsty tyrant than his father," Sanchez said.A plume of smoke from an Israeli airstrike on the eastern outskirts of Tyre, 24 March (AFP/Getty)Civil defence workers check a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, 24 March (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All right reserved)James Reynolds25 March 2026 08:28What do we know about the reported 15-point peace plan?The US is reported to have sent Iran a 15-point peace plan aimed at ending the war, now approaching its second month.We have not had any official confirmation of what such a proposal might contain at this stage. Trump says Iran has agreed to never have a nuclear weapon.Israel’s Channel 12 had reported that the plan includes the following demands:- Iran’s major nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow - the targets of last year’s 12-day war - will be taken out of use and destroyed;- The UN’s nuclear watchdog will be able to oversee activity in Iran again;- Iran will abandon the use of armed proxies in the region and stop funding regional affiliates, like Hezbollah;- Iran will dismantle existing nuclear capabilities and commit to never trying to procure nukes;Donald Trump claims to have offered Iran a proposal to end the war (AFP via Getty Images)- No nuclear material will be enriched in Iran and all enriched material will be handed to the IAEA;- The Strait of Hormuz will remain open;- Iranian missiles will be limited in quantity and range, only used for defence.Iran in return would receive the following assurances from the US:- American help in developing a civilian nuclear project for electricity production;- The removal of all sanctions;- The removal of the threat of renewing sanctions.James Reynolds25 March 2026 07:43 Australia to halt Iranian visitor visa holders from travelling Australia’s home affairs ministry said it would temporarily restrict some Iranian visitor visa holders who are outside Australia from travelling to the country, saying the move was to protect the integrity of its immigration system. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar25 March 2026 07:40Why Arab nations are scrambling to get South Korea’s Patriot-style air defence missilesA South Korean missile system built to intercept North Korean artillery has become one of the most sought after defence hardware for Gulf nations amid the ongoing US-Iran war.Seoul's homegrown, medium range, surface-to-air missile Cheongung, also known as M-SAM Block II, scored a reported interception rate of 96 per cent against Iranian missiles that were fired at the United Arab nation.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar25 March 2026 07:20Iran says US and Israel attacked Bushehr nuclear plant againIran's atomic energy organisation said the US and Israeli forces attacked its Bushehr nuclear power plant yesterday."The American-Zionist enemy has attacked the Bushehr nuclear power plant site again," the organisation said in a statement, adding that "a projectile hit inside the enclosure of the Bushehr power plant"."Initial reports indicate this incident did not cause any financial or technical damage, or human casualty, and the various areas of the power plant are unharmed." Alisha Rahaman Sarkar25 March 2026 07:00Watch: 'We negotiate with bombs': Pete Hegseth warns Iran'We negotiate with bombs': Pete Hegseth warns Iran as Trump says 'peace talks in progress'Alisha Rahaman Sarkar25 March 2026 06:55Iran opens Strait of Hormuz for non-hostile shipsIran says it has opened the Strait of Hormuz for "non-hostile vessels" if they coordinate with Iranian authorities.The US-Israeli war against Iran has all but halted shipments of about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas through the strait, causing oil supply disruption.A note from Iran's foreign minister was sent to the 15-member Security Council and UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Sunday, Reuters reported."Non-hostile vessels, including those belonging to or associated with other States, may - provided that they neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran and fully comply with the declared safety and security regulations - benefit from safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the competent Iranian authorities," it read. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar25 March 2026 06:50India's Reliance buys 5 million barrels of Iranian oilIndia's Reliance Industries has purchased 5 million barrels of Iranian crude, days after the US temporarily removed sanctions on the oil, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.The operator of the world's biggest refining complex bought the oil from the National Iranian Oil Co, two of the sources said.The deal marks India's first purchase of Iranian oil since the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer halted imports from Iran in May 2019, months after Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran.The Trump administration on Friday issued a 30-day sanctions waiver for the purchase of Iranian oil already at sea. The waiver applies to oil loaded on any vessel, including tankers under sanctions, on or before 20 March and discharged by 19 April. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar25 March 2026 06:40Iran says US is negotiating with itselfThe US is negotiating with itself, an Iranian military spokesperson said, a day after US president Donald Trump said Tehran wants to make a deal to end the war in the Middle East.A 15-point plan aimed at ending the conflict was drafted by Washington and sent to Tehran.“Has the level of your inner struggle reached the stage of you negotiating with yourself?” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for the unified command of Iran's armed forces, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said, taunting the US leadership.“People like us can never get along with people like you.”Mr Zolfaqari said US investments and pre-war energy prices would not return as long as Washington does not accept that regional stability is guaranteed by Iranian armed forces.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar25 March 2026 06:20 Palestinians gather around the remnants of an Iranian missilePalestinian boys gather around the remnants of an Iranian missile that landed in the Palestinian village of Hares in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 24, 2026 (Middle East Images via AFP/AFP v)Palestinians gather around the remnants of an Iranian missile that landed in the Palestinian village of Hares in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 24, 2026 (Middle East Images/AFP via Getty)Alisha Rahaman Sarkar25 March 2026 06:17
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