‘Is it unreasonable?’: Iran defends 2-day peace proposal after US calls it ‘outrageous’

Iran on Monday defended its revised proposal to resume negotiations with the United States within two days, calling it the most reasonable offer on the table after US secretary of state Marco Rubio described some of Tehran's demands as "outrageous and ridiculous".Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei questioned Washington's objections, arguing that Tehran's conditions were legitimate prerequisites for negotiations."Is it unreasonable that Iran demands that US illegal sanctions and its naval blockade must be lifted before negotiations start and that the war should end on all fronts?" Baghaei said at a weekly press conference, according to Reuters.Tehran has shortened its earlier seven-day proposal to two days. The revised plan calls for Washington to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, ease sanctions, release frozen Iranian assets and agree to end hostilities on all fronts. Iran has said it would reopen the strategically important Strait of Hormuz if its conditions are met.The proposal follows consultations involving Iran, Qatar and Pakistan, with Doha playing a key role in mediating between Tehran and Washington. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that the offer remained on the table and urged Washington to accept its terms, warning that Iran's armed forces were prepared for further confrontation.Rubio says no breakthrough in US-Iran negotiationsSpeaking to reporters on Sunday at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida before leaving for Paris to attend the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting, Rubio said several countries were continuing to mediate between the two sides but cautioned against expectations of an imminent breakthrough."You have a number of countries that continue to engage them with different ideas, but I wouldn’t say we’re at the verge of a breakthrough," Rubio said.He said President Donald Trump remained open to resolving the conflict through diplomacy, but argued that negotiations could not advance under the conditions being proposed by Iran.Baghaei, meanwhile, also criticised Washington's reported efforts to persuade Iraq to close most of its border crossings with Iran, after Iraq's foreign minister said the US was pushing for such a move.He said the pressure should not affect relations between Tehran and Baghdad.The spokesperson also dismissed the US military task force aimed at restricting Iran's land-based trade, describing it as a diversion following Republican losses in the US midterm elections.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.