Iran rejects ceasefire proposal as Trump's deadline looms

Israel strikes crucial Iranian petrochemical facility

FE Team | Published: April 06, 2026 23:57:11

TEHRAN, April 6 (AP): Iran on Monday rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and instead said it wants a permanent end to the war, as US President Donald Trump's ultimatum loomed within hours.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Tehran had conveyed its response through Pakistan, a key mediator.
The Iranian response consisted of 10 clauses, including an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting of ?sanctions, and reconstruction, the agency added.
Trump has threatened to rain "hell" on Tehran if it did not make a deal by 8 pm ?EDT (0000 GMT) Tuesday that would allow traffic to start moving again through the vital route for global energy ?supplies.
"We won't merely accept a ceasefire," Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press. "We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won't be attacked again."
Trump wants Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or see its power plants and bridges attacked. Ferdousi Pour said Iranian and Omani officials were working on a mechanism for administrating the shipping chokepoint.
The rejection came as Israel struck a key petrochemical plant in the massive South Pars natural gas field and killed two paramilitary Revolutionary Guard commanders.
The gas field attack aimed at eliminating a major source of revenue for Iran, Israel said.
The field is critical to electricity production, but the strike appeared to be separate from Trump's threats to target power plants and bridges if Tehran doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic by Monday night Washington time.
Iran's grip on the strait has caused oil prices to surge and shaken the world economy.
Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz called the plant Iran's largest petrochemical facility. The gas field shared with Qatar is the world's largest. Iranian state media blamed the US and Israel for the attack.
The White House did not immediately comment.
After Israel's attack on South Pars in March, Trump said Israel would not attack it again but warned that if Iran continued striking Qatar's energy infrastructure, the United States would "massively blow up" the field.
Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators have sent Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff a proposal calling for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the strait, two Mideast officials told The Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private negotiations.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei earlier told journalists that messages were being exchanged with mediators but "negotiations are entirely incompatible with ultimatums, crimes and threats of war crimes."
In Islamabad, two senior officials said Pakistan's ceasefire efforts are at an advanced stage but "several spoilers and detractors" are trying to sow confusion. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the talks.
Meanwhile, explosions boomed in Tehran and low-flying jets could be heard for hours.
Airstrikes kill more than 25 across Iran
Thick smoke rose near Tehran's Azadi Square after an airstrike hit the grounds of the Sharif University of Technology. Multiple countries have sanctioned the university for its work with the military, particularly on Iran's ballistic missile program.
Araghchi called university "the MIT of Iran," posting on social media that "Aggressors will see our might."
Iranian media reported damage to buildings and a natural gas distribution site next to campus. The university is empty as the war has forced all schools into online classes.
A strike near Eslamshar, southwest of Tehran, killed at least 15 people, authorities said.