trust

Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has proposed a roadmap for ending the United States-Israeli war on Iran as tensions escalate across the Middle East.

Zarif’s plan was published by Foreign Affairs magazine on Friday and goes “beyond a temporary ceasefire”.

The war, which erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, has spread across the Middle East and convulsed the global economy as Tehran attacked its neighbours, claiming to be targeting US assets there and restricting movement of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

Regional hostilities showed no signs of abating on Sunday, a day after US President Donald Trump said Iran had 48 hours to cut a deal or face “all hell”.

Against this backdrop, Zarif’s roadmap said that although Iran viewed itself as successful in the war, prolonging the conflict – while potentially “psychologically satisfying” for Tehran – would only result in further loss of civilian lives and destruction of infrastructure.

Iran should, therefore, offer to “place limits on its nuclear program” under international monitoring as well as “reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for an end to all sanctions”, Zarif wrote.

Since the war began, Iran has virtually blocked the key waterway, through which one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas supplies normally pass.

Nuclear limits on Iran would include a commitment to never seek nuclear weapons and to blend its entire stockpile of enriched uranium so its enrichment levels fall below 3.67 percent, Zarif said.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates, Iran is believed to have about 440kg (970lb) of uranium enriched to 60 percent, a level at which uranium can be quickly enriched to the 90 percent threshold needed to produce a nuclear weapon.

Zarif called Trump’s demand for zero enrichment “fanciful” thinking.

Iran should also “accept a mutual nonaggression pact with the United States” in which both countries pledge to not strike each other in the future, the former minister said.

The US should also end all sanctions and United Nations Security Council resolutions against Iran, he added.

Regional consortium

Zarif also outlined potential roles for regional and international actors.

He suggested that China and Russia along with the US could help create a regional fuel-enrichment consortium with Iran and its Gulf neighbours at West Asia’s sole enrichment facility with Iran transferring all enriched material and equipment there.

Zarif additionally proposed that Gulf states, UN Security Council powers and possibly Egypt, Pakistan and Turkiye should form a regional security framework to “ensure nonaggression, cooperation and freedom of navigation”, including arrangements to guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

“To further consolidate peace, Iran and the United States should initiate mutually beneficial trade, economic and technological cooperation,” Zarif added.

The Iranian politician said this roadmap would benefit Trump, offering him a “well-timed off-ramp” and an opportunity to claim peace.

“Emotions may be high, and each side is boasting about its war-front victories. But history best remembers those who make peace,” he said.

The US has presented Iran with a 15-point plan for a ceasefire as Pakistan, Turkiye and Egypt have been trying to achieve direct talks, but there has been no signs of progress on the diplomatic front.

What about the Gulf?

Officials from Gulf states have responded to Zarif’s proposal, criticising it for overlooking Tehran’s attacks against its neighbours.

“Reading M. Javad Zarif’s article in Foreign Affairs ignores one of the core flaws in Iran’s strategy: aggression against its Gulf Arab neighbors,” Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, said on X on Saturday.

“Thousands of missiles & drones targeting infrastructure, civilians, even mediators, is not strength; it is hubris & strategic failure. The Arab world has seen this before: destruction peddled as victory,” he added.

Former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani also responded to Zarif’s plan, writing on X on Sunday that he “agreed with much of it” and it took a “clever” approach.

Still, he pushed back, stating that the war has “led us all into a path that is more complicated and dangerous” and chiding Iran for its attacks on the Gulf.

“You may believe that you have achieved progress in some aspects, and perhaps temporary tactical gains, but the cost was clear: the loss of an important part of your friends in the region, and the erosion of the trust that was built over years,” he wrote.

“Today, we need a voice like yours [Zarif’s] merging from within Iran to propose solutions to this war,” he added.

Iranian strikes come after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars gasfield, with President Pezeshkian warning of ‘uncontrollable consequences’ that could ‘engulf the entire world’.

OLIVIA Attwood has dropped a cryptic hint about her ex Bradley Dack’s “breach of trust” following their split.

The TV and podcast star, 34, appeared to suggest her next relationship won’t have the same pitfalls in her Instagram story.

She shared a post that read: “No more learning experiences please god I am smart enough,” while Tame Impala’s aptly titled ‘New Person, Same Old Mistakes’ played over the top.

Yesterday, Olivia revealed that she will speak about her split from footballer Bradley, 32, a week after she was spotted leaving the same Manchester hotel as close pal Pete Wicks, 37.

The Sun reported how he was seen carrying two pizzas up to his room at 3am.

Yesterday, Olivia joined This Morning hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley in the studio to discuss her new ITV show The Heat.

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But the presenters couldn’t help but turn the spotlight onto Olivia’s personal life as they asked her how she was coping following her split.

Ben said: “It’s been a very busy start to the year for you professionally and personally, how you doing?” to which Olivia began to laugh.

She replied: “My feet haven’t touched the ground, I’m grateful forever for this wonderful thing that I get to call work and I can throw myself into it.

“I think when you are in entertainment and you have to show up as the person you’re booked to be, almost when you’re doing that you kind of trick your brain – it’s a distraction isn’t it, you can just get into it, that’s been my anchor since Jan.

“I feel like I haven’t breathed.”

Olivia then spoke about her house move, which saw her leave her shared home with Brad last month.

“I am now getting there with the apartment, I am very lucky that I’m in the position where I’m on my own two feet and I can do that. But moving is hell, no matter how much help you have,” she said.

Olivia acknowledged there is an expectation for her to share her private life due to her rise to fame on reality show Love Island.

But she said she’s taking her time to process everything before speaking about her split on her podcast.

“The reason I’m sat here with you guys today is from being on Love Island, so people are used to a level of access to me which I have no issue with providing still but I have to do it when I’m ready and I know what I’m wanting to share,” she said.

“I’m trying to do that a little bit more as I get older ‘think before you speak’, because once you’ve said it, it’s hard to take it back.

“I’m still digesting things and working things out. We’ll get to it, we’ll have a podcast chat, it’s coming but I just need to process it.”

The Sun revealed in January that Olivia had split from Gillingham footballer Bradley following a “breach of trust” on his part.

In 2017, she went on Love Island and emerged in a relationship with Chris Hughes, later saying it was revenge on Bradley for cheating.

They eventually reunited after having a heart to heart while she was still with Chris, and she joined Towie in 2019, on which Pete was already a regular.

Last summer, Olivia and Pete were seen in an intimate embrace on a yacht off Ibiza.

We revealed Bradley has now blocked Pete on Instagram — just a few weeks after the couple’s split.

Speaking ahead of the Brit Awards on their Sunday Roast podcast, Pete said: “What always happens at these events is Liv and I gravitate towards each other and basically just stick together, don’t we?”

Olivia replied: “Because I feel like we both have the same objective. And talk to as few people . . .”

Pete then added: “As possible.”

Pete then said: “Although we are not going big this year, are we?” – to which Olivia countered: “What do you mean?”

Pete continued: “You have a flight the next day.”

Olivia replied: “I know – you need to keep me lucid enough that I don’t get stopped at immigration.”

Pete said: “The danger being that I jump on the flight with you in what I am wearing from the Brits.”