TEHRAN (Realist English). Over the past 24 hours, the negotiation process between the US and Iran has received a new impetus: Tehran has handed a detailed 14‑point peace plan to Pakistani mediators.
However, the White House’s reaction has been cold, while the Israeli leadership is meanwhile building up its military power and expanding strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon and pro‑Iranian forces in Syria.
Iran’s 14‑point plan: demands and conditions
Over the weekend, Tehran handed Washington, through Pakistani mediators, a wide‑ranging peace proposal. According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, the document contains the following key demands:
- the complete withdrawal of US troops from areas adjacent to Iran;
- the immediate lifting of the naval blockade of Iranian ports;
- the unfreezing of Iranian assets and the payment of compensation for war damage;
- the lifting of all sanctions and the cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including the Lebanese front;
- the creation of a new international mechanism to manage shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The key feature of the plan is a step‑by‑step settlement: first, it proposes to restore shipping in the strait within 30 days and to completely halt hostilities, and only then to move on to 30‑day negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Mehran Kamrava, a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, explained that for Iran the unfreezing of assets and the lifting of sanctions are of primary importance, while control over the strait is “more of a bargaining chip”.
US reaction: ‘unacceptable’
Commenting on the proposal on 2 May, President Donald Trump said: “I will study it, but I cannot imagine that it would be acceptable, since they have not yet paid a high enough price for what they have done to humanity and the world over the last 47 years.” At a briefing on 4 May, a White House spokesman confirmed that the US still insists that nuclear concessions must precede any agreement.
Tehran, for its part, said it had received the US response and was now studying it. However, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, stressed that Islamabad is the sole mediator in the talks and that progress depends solely on a change in Washington’s approach. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, after its consultations, said that Trump had only two paths – an “impossible military operation” or a “bad deal”.
Israel’s foreign policy: preparing for a new escalation
Iran: new fighters and coordination with the US
Despite the diplomatic activity, Israel continues to build up its military power. On 3 May, the government approved the purchase from the US of two new fighter squadrons – a fourth F‑35I squadron and a second F‑15IA squadron – in deals worth “tens of billions of shekels”. Defence Minister Israel Katz said that “the lessons of the campaign against Iran require us to ensure air superiority for decades to come.”
At the same time, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir held intensive consultations with the commander of US Central Command, Brad Cooper, on possible joint operations against Iran. Israeli media report that targets under consideration include critical infrastructure, including power grids, oil and gas fields, and steel plants.
Lebanon: intense strikes against Hezbollah
The situation on the border with Lebanon remains extremely tense. On 3 May, Israeli forces accused Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire and announced strikes on its facilities. The IDF reported the destruction of about 70 military installations and about 50 infrastructure positions in southern Lebanon, including the Nabatieh, Tyre and Iqlim al‑Tuffah areas. In response, Hezbollah attacked Israeli troops and fired rockets at the Upper Galilee. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported at least one dead and four wounded rescue workers.
Zamir authorised strikes deep into Lebanese territory, tasking the Air Force with destroying drone factories. Particular attention is being paid to Hezbollah’s fibre‑optic drones, which are almost immune to electronic jamming and have inflicted serious damage on Israeli forces.
The new operational approach envisages destroying the drones on the ground – before they take off. Israeli forces continue to hold a buffer zone of more than 500 sq km along the border with Lebanon and have seized dozens of villages.
Syria: shelling and ground raids
The southern provinces of Syria (Quneitra and Daraa) have also become a theatre of operations in recent days. On 3 May, Israeli units shelled the outskirts of the village of al‑Samdaniya al‑Gharbiya in the central part of Quneitra province. The al‑Arda forest near the town of Abdin in the western part of Daraa province was also hit. The shelling was accompanied by intense overflights of Israeli warplanes over Syrian territory, causing panic among the local population.
At the same time, Israeli forces conducted a ground raid in the Wadi al‑Raquad area in the western part of Daraa province. An Israeli military patrol of two vehicles crossed into the territory and advanced inland. Since the fall of Bashar al‑Assad’s regime (8 December 2024), the Israelis have already carried out “frequent ground raids, airstrikes and other operations” in Syria’s three southern provinces – Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda, according to human rights groups.
Israeli analysts note that Tel Aviv is sceptical of the effectiveness of the US blockade, believing that economic pressure is unlikely to force Iran to give up its enriched uranium. At the same time, the preparations for a large‑scale operation on three fronts (Iranian, Lebanese and Syrian) indicate that Israel is not ruling out a military scenario.