American officials are reportedly frustrated with a list of conditions Iran has laid out for entering ceasefire negotiations.

Iran recently presented the United States with a set of demands through third-party intermediaries, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Among them: economic control over the Strait of Hormuz, a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the right to continue developing its ballistic missile program without restrictions. Iran has also reportedly sought the dismantling of U.S. military bases in the region and financial compensation for war damages.

There has been no direct contact between Washington and Tehran, the report said.

The Iranian demands appear to be in direct contradiction to Washington’s own conditions for ending the war. The United States has called on Iran to limit both the range and quantity of its missile arsenal and restrict their use to self-defense, abandon its network of regional proxy forces including Hezbollah, and dismantle all nuclear capabilities while surrendering its stockpile of enriched uranium.

U.S. and Middle Eastern officials dismissed Iran’s conditions as unrealistic and said they make the chances of reaching a deal even slimmer than during the failed last-ditch negotiations that preceded the war.

Iran reinforced that assessment with a strikingly defiant statement on Wednesday. Ebrahim Zolfaqari, the top spokesperson for Iran’s joint military command, suggested in a pre-recorded video that the United States was effectively negotiating with itself.

“People like us can never get along with people like you,” he said. “The strategic power you used to talk about has turned into a strategic failure.” He added that American investments would not recover and prewar energy prices would not return until Washington accepted that it is Iran’s armed forces who guarantee regional stability.

“Not now. Not ever,” he said of the possibility of a deal.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, told India Today on Tuesday that Tehran had a “very bad experience with American diplomacy,” noting that the U.S. has attacked Iran twice during high-level negotiations over the past two years, including during Israel’s twelve-day war with the Islamic Republic in June 2025. He insisted there is no dialogue underway.

Despite the public denials, two Pakistani officials said Wednesday that Iran has received a 15-point American proposal to end the war. The proposal addresses sanctions relief, civilian nuclear cooperation, a rollback of Iran’s nuclear program, international monitoring, missile limitations, and access through the Strait of Hormuz, the officials told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

An Egyptian official involved in mediation efforts described the American plan as “a comprehensive deal” and said it is being treated as a starting point for further negotiation. But Iranian officials remain “very skeptical” of the Trump administration, the Egyptian official said, comparing the proposal to the 20-point framework used in the Gaza ceasefire, a plan that required enormous effort to finalize even with both sides at the table.

President Trump first announced Monday that the U.S. was negotiating with Iran, walking back a 48-hour ultimatum he had issued for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened or face strikes on Iran’s power infrastructure. He postponed those strikes for five days, and on Tuesday claimed Tehran had given him a “very big present worth a tremendous amount of oil.”

Shortly afterward, Iran circulated a message through the International Maritime Organization assuring safe passage to “non-hostile vessels” transiting the strait — a gateway for roughly one-fifth of global oil supply. Crude oil prices dropped close to six percent on the news.

But the assurance fell short of a full reopening. Iran had already said in recent days that it was not targeting friendly nations, though many commercial vessels have stayed away as insurance companies refuse to cover the risk. The effective closure of the waterway has produced the worst energy supply shock in history, sending fuel prices soaring and disrupting global aviation.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)