00:01It's a potential diplomatic off-ramp. Tehran has, by all accounts, received the Trump administration's 15-point ceasefire plan via
00:10Pakistani intermediaries.
00:12However, public comments from Iranian officials poured scorn over the prospect of any negotiations with Washington.
00:21Do not call your defeat an agreement. The era of your promises is over. Our first and last words are
00:29and will always be, someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you.
00:37In private, though, some sources indicated Tehran had not rejected the U.S. proposal outright.
00:44The plan includes a 30-day ceasefire, during which the sides negotiate terms to end the war.
00:51Other key elements reportedly include a commitment from Iran to never develop nuclear weapons, limits on the range and number
00:59of Iranian missiles, ending Iran's support for regional proxies, ending Iranian attacks on regional energy infrastructure, the reopening of the
01:08Strait of Hormuz, and a removal of all sanctions imposed on Iran.
01:13Some of those points, though, were non-starters in negotiations before the war.
01:18Iran had refused to discuss its ballistic missile program or its support for regional militias, which it views as key
01:25to its security.
01:27And now, Tehran's ability to control passage through the Strait of Hormuz represents one of its biggest strategic advantages,
01:34not to mention Iranian attacks on regional energy infrastructure, which have contributed to skyrocketing oil prices and fears of a
01:43global energy crisis,
01:44in turn putting pressure on the U.S. to find a way to calm markets.
01:49Despite Donald Trump's claims of ongoing negotiations with Tehran, Washington is still keeping its military options open,
01:57deploying more troops in the Middle East over the coming days.
02:01And it comes as Iran and Israel continue to exchange fire.
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