Iran sends response to US proposal to end war via mediator Pakistan

TEHRAN, May 18 (Agencies): Iran has submitted a response to the latest United States (US) proposal to end the war via mediator Pakistan, as a fragile truce comes under growing strain.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told a press briefing on Monday that Tehran’s response to the latest US proposal had been “conveyed to the American side through mediator Pakistan”, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Washington and Tehran have exchanged several proposals over recent weeks amid a ceasefire that mostly halted six weeks of fighting, but the talks mediated by Pakistan have stalled, and US ?President Donald Trump has said the ceasefire is “on life support”.
Baghaei said Iran’s demands include the release of its assets frozen abroad and the lifting of sanctions.
Iran said Monday it had responded to a new US proposal aimed at ending the war, adding that diplomatic exchanges continue despite Iranian media reports describing Washington's demands as excessive. Washington and Tehran have been swapping proposals in an effort to end the conflict which the US and Israel launched on February 28, but they have held only a single round of talks despite a fragile ceasefire.
"As we announced yesterday, our concerns were conveyed to the American side," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a news briefing, adding that exchanges were "continuing through the Pakistani mediator".
Baqaei defended Iran's demands, including the release of Iranian assets frozen abroad and the lifting of long-standing sanctions.
Pakistan has deployed 8,000 troops, a squadron of fighter jets and an air defence system to Saudi Arabia under a mutual defence pact, ramping up military cooperation with Riyadh even as Islamabad serves as the main mediator in the Iran war.
The deployment, the full scale of which is reported here for the first time, was confirmed by three security officials and two government sources, all of whom described it as a substantial, combat-capable force intended to support Saudi Arabia's military if the kingdom comes under further attack.
Pakistan's military and foreign office and Saudi Arabia's government media office did not respond to requests for comment on the deployment.
US President Donald Trump has warned Iran the "clock is ticking" as talks to bring the war to an end have stalled.
"They better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them," he wrote on his Truth Social platform. "TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!"
The message came as the president spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, the Times of Israel reported, citing Netanyahu's office.
On Monday Iran said it had responded to the latest US proposal and that exchanges with Washington were continuing through Pakistani mediators.
"As we announced yesterday, our concerns were conveyed to the American side," the country's foreign ministry spokesperson said at a media briefing, the AFP reported.
Iranian media earlier reported the US had failed to make any concrete concessions to Tehran, with the semi-official Mehr news agency saying a lack of compromise would lead to an "impasse in the negotiations".
Trump's message echoed his threat that a "whole civilisation" would die unless Iran agreed to a deal to end the war, shortly before the ceasefire was announced in early April.
The president warned earlier this week that truce was on "massive life support" after rejecting Tehran's demands, labelling them "totally unacceptable". Esmail Baghaei, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, then insisted they were "responsible" and "generous".
According to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, the Iranian asks included an immediate end to the war on all fronts - a reference to the continued Israeli attacks against Iran-supported Hezbollah in Lebanon - a halt to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, and guarantees of no further attacks on Iran.
They also reportedly included a demand for compensation for war damage and an emphasis on Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said on Sunday that Washington had set five conditions in response to Tehran's proposal.
They reportedly included a demand that Iran keep only one nuclear site in operation and transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to the US.
Trump suggested on Friday that he would accept a 20-year suspension by Iran of its nuclear programme - a major sticking point between the two countries - in what appeared to be confirmation of a shift in position away from a demand for a total end to it.
Israeli and US forces began massive air strikes on Iran on 28 February. The ceasefire meant to facilitate talks has largely been observed despite occasional exchanges of fire.
Iran has also continued to control the Strait of Hormuz, effectively closing the vital waterway through which around 20 per cent of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas travels.
The move, which Iran has said is in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks, has sent oil prices soaring globally.

Iran Nobel winner discharged
from hospital

PARIS, May 18 (AFP): Iranian Nobel peace prize winner Narges Mohammadi has returned to her home in Tehran after being discharged from hospital in the wake of her release on bail, her family and supporters said Monday.
They warned of the risk of any return to prison for the 2023 laureate, who suffers from a heart condition and whose health deteriorated drastically following her most recent arrest in December.
Mohammadi was sent home on Sunday after 18 days of hospitalisation in Zanjan, where she had been in prison, and then in Tehran, her foundation said in a statement.
Tests in hospital confirmed that heart and blood pressure disorders are directly linked to "prolonged, severe psychological pressure, chronic anxiety, and intense environmental stress", it said, adding she must not return to prison "under any circumstances".
"Her recovery demands strict medical supervision outside prison walls," her daughter Kiana Rahmani said. "Returning her to detention is a death sentence."
"We must ensure she remains free, all baseless charges against her are permanently dropped, and the persecution ends," she added.
Kiana, along with her twin brother Ali, are based in Paris and have now not seen their mother for over a decade.
Mohammadi had been released on bail on May 10 while in hospital in Zanjan and transferred to Tehran for medical treatment.
Her supporters had said Mohammadi was at risk of dying on prison after suffering two suspected heart attacks behind bars.
Her legal team says Mohammadi has some 18 years still to serve in accumulated sentences on various security-related charges.
Her condition has been affected by the war between Iran and the United States and Israel, with at least three airstrikes close to her prison in Zanjan, her supporters and legal team say.
Mohammadi, 54, who has spent much of the past two decades in and out of prison for her activism, was arrested most recently in December after denouncing the Islamic republic at a funeral for a lawyer.
She strongly backed the 2022-2023 protests sparked by the death in custody of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini but was arrested before the major demonstrations that erupted in January this year.
Rights groups say tens of thousands of people have been arrested over the January protests and the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic, with Iran also stepping up executions for convicts seen by rights groups as political prisoners.