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As Operation Epic Fury slogs on for a 26th day, Iranian officials have publicly dismissed the Trump administration’s efforts to negotiate a way out of the crisis. Both sides have exchanged demands for any settlement of the war as Pakistan has agreed to hold peace talks, but there appears to be no quick off ramp to this conflict. Meanwhile, the missile and drones keep launching and the bombs keep falling.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday said Iran “refused to come to a deal,” adding that President Donald Trump “does not bluff and is prepared to unleash hell.”
The Iranians claimed that they rejected any move to stop the fighting because of the demands made by the White House and, what they state, is their ongoing successful defensive strategy. They also hit back with their own peace deal demands.
Though the U.S. has started “efforts to establish a ceasefire and start indirect negotiations with Iran… Tehran considers a ceasefire and negotiations currently unjustifiable,” the official Iranian FARS news agency proclaimed on Wednesday. “While U.S. diplomatic movements for a ceasefire have increased in the past five days with mediation by some countries, experts describe the change in Donald Trump’s rhetoric as a sign of Washington’s retreat in the face of Iran’s resistance. However, according to observers, the U.S. government’s effort to maintain its prestige has caused these requests to be presented wrapped in military and media threats.”
“…the Islamic Republic of Iran, before making any decision regarding the ceasefire request presented by U.S. intermediaries, emphasizes achieving its strategic goals in confrontation with the hostile front, and only upon their fulfillment will there be a possibility to end the war (not just a ceasefire),” FARS added. “Political analysts also believe that Iran’s comprehensive resistance against the U.S., the Zionist regime, and their allies has narrowed the maneuvering space for the enemy, forcing them to seek a way out of the current situation.”
However, despite rejecting the peace deal, “Iranian officials nevertheless signaling privately that they are open to negotiations, raising the prospect of a cessation in hostilities, Israel moved to step up its efforts to destroy as much of Iran’s military capabilities as possible,” The New York Times reported.
Iranian officials are also wary of dealing with Trump at all, Axios posited.
“The U.S. is pushing for in-person peace talks as soon as Thursday in Islamabad, Pakistan. But during the two previous rounds of U.S.-Iran talks, Trump green lit crippling surprise attacks while still claiming to be seeking a deal,” the outlet noted. “Iranian officials have told the countries trying to mediate peace talks with the U.S. that they have now been tricked twice by President Trump and “we don’t want to be fooled again.”
The rejection came after the The New York Times reported on Tuesday that the United States sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war. The publication cited officials briefed on the diplomacy.
The publication acknowledged that it did not see a copy of the plan, but explained that officials “shared some of its broad outlines, saying that it addresses Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs,” the Times wrote. “The plan also discusses maritime routes, one of the officials said. Since the beginning of the war, Iran has effectively blocked most Western ships from safely passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway in and out of the Persian Gulf, cutting the global supply of oil and natural gas, and sending the prices soaring.”
It was unclear how widely the plan, delivered by way of Pakistan, had been shared among Iranian officials, the newspaper noted, nor was it clear whether Israel, which has been bombing Iran together with the United States, was on board with the proposal.
Israeli media offered more details about the plan, but said it involved 14 points. They include Iran dismantle its nuclear capabilities, promise not to strive to obtain nuclear weapons or enrich uranium inside the country, limit the number of range of missiles and end its support for proxies like Hezbollah and the Houthis among several other demands.
Iran set a high bar with its own proposal. It demanded the closure of all U.S. bases in the Gulf , guarantees of no further attacks, an end to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah, lifting all sanctions on Iran, the payment of war damage reparations and no restrictions on the missile program, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“A U.S. official called the demands ridiculous and unrealistic,” the newspaper added.
“Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and US Vice President JD Vance, could travel to Islamabad if an agreement was likely to be reached,” Bloomberg news reported on Tuesday, citing one senior Western diplomat. “The US had also considered locations such as Muscat, Doha and Cairo for peace talks, but fraying relations due to the war or mistrust from either Washington or Tehran toward those governments made those options less viable, the person added.”
Iran, however, has reportedly refused to negotiate with anyone other than Vance, accusing Witkoff and Kushner of “backstabbing” because the U.S. launched Epic Fury hours after the two held talks with Tehran.
On Wednesday, Leavitt dismissed claims about any face-to-face negotiations, saying “nothing should be deemed official until formally announced by the White House.”
UPDATES:
The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament issued a veiled threat on Wednesday.
“Based on some data, Iran’s enemies, with the support of one of the regional countries, are preparing to occupy one of the Iranian islands,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted on X. “All enemy movements are under the full surveillance of our armed forces. If they step out of line, all the vital infrastructure of that regional country will, without restriction, become the target of relentless attacks.”
While Ghalibaf didn’t specify the regional countries he wrote about, he is referring to a potential attack on Kharg Island or other Iranian islands in the Strait of Hormuz. As we previously noted, the U.S. is sending additional troops to the region for such a possibility. Last week, former CENTCOM commander Joseph Votel offered his candid views about the difficulty of taking Kharg Island. You can read our exclusive interview with Votel here.
Meanwhile, the Iranians are beefing defenses on Kharg Island, CNN reported.
Amid the halting diplomacy, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Adm. Brad Cooper released his fifth video update on Epic Fury, saying that the U.S. has hit more than 10,000 Iranian targets and just reached the 10,000 mark “just hours ago.”
Earlier today, CENTCOM released video showing strikes against Iran’s military infrastructure.
The IDF claimed it struck two naval cruise missile production sites in Tehran.
Iran continued firing missiles at Israel. The following video shows an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a cluster muntion warhead that is difficult to intercept in the terminal phase.
Iran said Wednesday it had fired cruise missiles in the direction of the the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.
FARS, which has close ties with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed that the missile attack had “forc[ed] the American naval fleet to change position.”
CENTCOM did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
The Iranian claim about the Lincoln came a day after Trump told reporters that Iran has unsuccessfully launched 100 missiles at the carrier.
CENTCOM on Wednesday shot down Tehran’s claim that a U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet was downed by Iranian air defenses.
That claim was made by the official Iranian Press TV news outlet in a post on X.
Two U.S. Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy heavy transports flew into Diego Garcia, in the past 48 hours, according to open source flight trackers. One was from Okinawa, Japan and the other from South Korea. Some believe this indicates the shipment of air defense systems and interceptors in the wake of claimed Iranian attempts to strike the island, about 2,500 miles away, with ballistic missiles. It remains unclear what the flights were actually about.
Yesterday, we noted that open-source satellite imagery captured over the Indian Ocean yesterday indicates that the USS Tripoli is now docked at Diego Garcia. However, imagery posted today by open-source investigator MT Anderson shows that the Tripoli Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG) has pushed on toward the Middle East, while a lone Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer is now docked there.
CENTCOM released images of A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support jets taking part in attacks on Iranian ships.
As the Middle East energy war rages on, an Iranian missile struck near the Orott Rabin power plant in Hadera, Israel, with no reports of direct impact on the facility.
Though Trump derided new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez sees him as a threat.
The “present” that Trump said Tuesday that Iran had given Washington “was allowing the safe passage of a number of fuel tankers through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days,” the Times of Israel reported on X, citing a senior Arab diplomat and a U.S. official.
France may be organizing its own coalition to re-open the Strait, Reuters reported on X.
However, several European leaders are pushing back against comments made by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that European allies would eventually ‘come together’ to heed Trump’’s call to deploy naval assets in the Strait of Hormuz, Financial Times reported.
Vessels seeking to gain Iranian protection while transiting the Strait of Hormuz are being asked to provide detailed information to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Bloomberg reported. The demand includes lists of crew and cargo, along with voyage details and bills of ladings.The publication also noted that the IRGC is exacting tolls on shipping, charging some vessels $2 million to transit.
With the Strait of Hormuz still largely closed for most shipping, China’s foreign ministry, asked whether Chinese ships are passing through, said Beijing has been in communication with all parties.
The Iraqi Ministry of Defense condemned a deadly U.S. airstrike on its medical and logistical facilities in Habbaniya on Wednesday. The incident is the latest in an ongoing series of attacks by Iranian-backed militias on U.S. and allied forces in Iraq, and resulting retaliation strikes that have seen a dramatic uptick since the launch of Epic Fury.
“At approximately 9:00 AM, the Habbaniya Military Clinic and the local Works Department came under a direct airstrike, which was immediately followed by concentrated cannon fire from the attacking aircraft,” The Iraqi Defense Ministry stated. Saying that seven soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded “while performing their national and humanitarian duties.”
The Ministry described the strike as “a flagrant violation of international law and a heinous crime, specifically citing global conventions that prohibit the targeting of medical facilities and personnel.”
In addition to Iraqi soldiers, the base is also shared by PMF/Hashd al-Shaabi, one of the Iranian-backed militias striking U.S. and allied forces.
The War Zone cannot independently verify this claim.
The reported attack came after Iraq gave permission to a quarter of a million paramilitary troops under the Popular Mobilization Forces umbrella to retaliate against strikes by the U.S., according to the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
With no end to the fighting in sight, we will continue to provide updates on the status of Epic Fury and efforts to end the war.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
