Iran threw cold water on Washington’s 15-point ceasefire proposal on Wednesday, with senior officials flatly rejecting the terms even as the White House pushed back on any suggestion that diplomacy had collapsed.

The disconnect set up a high-stakes standoff: Tehran publicly insisting it will not negotiate while back-channel messages flow through Pakistan, and Washington projecting confidence in a process Iran officially denies is happening.

“At present, our policy is the continuation of resistance,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on state television. “We do not intend to negotiate — so far, no negotiations have taken place.” Araghchi went further, arguing that “speaking of negotiations now is an admission of defeat.”

A second Iranian official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, was less combative but no more encouraging, saying Tehran’s initial response to the U.S. proposal had not been “positive” and that the government was still reviewing it.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt flatly rejected the narrative of a breakdown. “Talks continue. They are productive… and they continue,” she told reporters Wednesday, while cautioning that some media reporting on the contents of the 15-point plan had not been “entirely factual.”

Leavitt also delivered a pointed warning. “If Iran fails to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before.”

The mismatch in public postures reflects a familiar diplomatic dance: each side trying to avoid appearing to blink while keeping the door open just enough for a deal. “There is hope, but it’s too early to be optimistic,” said a regional diplomatic source granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, noting that both sides need room to de-escalate without losing face.

The U.S. proposal, as described by the New York Times citing anonymous officials, touches on Iran’s nuclear and missile programs as well as “maritime routes” — the latter a pointed reference to Iran’s near-blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has rattled global energy markets since fighting began February 28.

Iran, for its part, has laid out a maximalist counter-position: recognition of its “natural, legal right” over the Strait of Hormuz, the cessation of hostilities against all of its proxies, war reparations, guarantees against resumed fighting, removal of all U.S. sanctions, closure of American military bases in the region, and no restrictions on its missile program. That list is unlikely to fly in Washington. But diplomats say the real negotiations — if they happen — will look nothing like the public posturing.

President Trump offered a curious window into his thinking Tuesday, telling reporters that Iran had done “something yesterday that was amazing — they gave us a present…worth a tremendous amount of money.” A senior Arab diplomat and a U.S. official told the Times of Israel that the “present” was Iran’s decision to allow several fuel tankers safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days — a gesture Trump appeared to read as a signal of Iranian flexibility.

It was a revealing moment: a wartime president treating the partial reopening of a vital oil route as a diplomatic olive branch, and signaling he might be willing to reciprocate.

Trump previously threatened to bomb Iranian power plants before pulling back after, Leavitt said, “it was made clear to the United States that Iran wanted to talk.”

Hovering over the diplomatic maneuvering is an Israeli calculus that points in a different direction. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Israel has ramped up its airstrikes amid fears that Trump could suddenly call a halt to the war before Jerusalem achieves its military objectives. Channel 12 reported that Israeli officials are concerned a ceasefire could come as early as Saturday, and that the IDF has drawn up a target-prioritization plan accordingly.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)