Days after President Donald Trump told reporters his administration was pushing a 15-point plan for a ceasefire in the nearly month-old war he started against Iran, the White House suggested that reports about the existence of such a plan may not be “entirely factual.”
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday slammed coverage of the plan, sparked by her boss’ announcement of it, which Iranian officials have reportedly rejected during talks that she characterized as “productive” in a Wednesday press briefing.
“I saw a 15-point plan that was floated in the media. I would caution reporters in this room from reporting about speculative points or speculative plans from anonymous sources. The White House never confirmed that full plan. There are elements of truth to it, but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual,” she said.
Her comments appeared to cast doubt on whether any such plan exists, but the very existence of the 15-point American plan was first revealed by Trump himself on Monday when he spoke to reporters — including The Independent — before boarding Air Force One for a flight to Memphis, Tennessee.
After he said there were “many points of agreement” between Washington and Tehran, he was asked to elaborate further on what they might be. He replied: “15 points, 15 points.”
“They're not going to have a nuclear weapon. That's number one. That's number one, two and three,” Trump claimed.
The administration’s plan is understood to have included demands for Iran to dismantle its existing nuclear capabilities, abandon its “regional proxy paradigm” including the dismantling of said proxies, re-open the Strait of Hormuz and limit its missiles to self-defense.
It closely tracked a proposal that had been floated to Iranian negotiators nearly a year ago, in talks which had taken place just before American airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last June.
Iranian state media reported that government officials had rejected the purported 15-point as plan “excessive” and a “strategic failure”.
A high-ranking Iranian diplomatic official later described the proposition as “extremely maximalist and unreasonable” in comments made to Al Jazeera on Wednesday.
“It is not even beautiful on paper,” they remarked. An Iranian official confirmed to Reuters that the response to the proposal was not positive and that it was still being reviewed by Tehran.
Iran’s response is reportedly being conveyed to Washington by Pakistan, which hosts the Iranian interests section that serves as a de facto diplomatic outpost for Tehran in the U.S. since the U.S. and Iran have lacked formal relations since 1979.
Pakistan has taken a leading in facilitating the latest negotiations because the Persian Gulf countries that normally serve as intermediaries have found themselves embroiled in defensive efforts to rebuff Iranian attacks.
State media broadcaster Press TV later listed five key demands in an Iranian counterproposal for a ceasefire including: a complete stop to aggression and assassinations, concrete mechanisms to ensure the war is not reimposed, war damages and reparations, cessation of fighting with all resistance groups throughout the Middle East and the recognition of Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, told reporters that Trump is prepared to “unleash hell” on Tehran if the Iranian regime does not return to the negotiating table.
She said: “If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment,” then the regime would be “hit harder than they have ever been hit before.”
“President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again,” she added.
The back-and-forth over the purported dueling peace plans comes after the United States has confirmed the deployment of ground troops to the Middle East after Iran sent back the ‘excessive’ demands of Donald Trump’s peace plan.
The Pentagon confirmed to The Independent on Wednesday that some elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, some division enablers and the 1st Brigade Combat Team will be deploying to the region.
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