Iran sets 7 conditions for US talks, warns Trump of ‘decisive war’ if terms rejected

Iran has laid out seven conditions in front of the United States through Qatar for restarting talks to end the ongoing war. Tehran is prepared for a “decisive war” if US President Donald Trump rejects its demands, an Iranian diplomat has said.

“We remain in contact with the mediator Qatar, which has conveyed our conditions to Washington with the aim of ending the war. We are awaiting President Trump’s response,” Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

Rezaei did not publicly spell out all seven conditions. He, though, separately identified three demands that Tehran wanted addressed for the war to end: a halt to fighting on all fronts, the release of frozen Iranian funds and an end to the US naval blockade.

“It is in Washington’s interest to accept these conditions. Trump’s threats will not achieve any results. We are prepared for a decisive war,” he said.

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Rezaei added that another US attack was “very much on the cards” based on Iranian military assessments, even as he said Tehran was pursuing a strategy “to bring this war to an end as soon as possible.”

He said Tehran changed its military planning after earlier rounds of fighting and was now focusing on US naval assets operating from the Persian Gulf through the Gulf of Oman and into the Arabian Sea.

Rezaei also claimed that Iran recently tested a multi-warhead anti-ship missile near a US vessel or aircraft carrier, as per Tehran Times.

He warned that if Washington launched another attack, Iran could respond against US military bases in the region as well as American commercial interests and companies operating there.

That said, Rezaei added that Tehran wanted the war to end as soon as possible. “In practical terms the war is still going on,” he said.

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The US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28. Coordinated air strikes by the Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu governments assassinated Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei and several top officials.

Iran retaliated and struck at US bases across the Gulf. Washington and Tehran have since exchanged several rounds of attacks.

Trump said this week that he hoped the war was nearing an end and was expected to meet leaders of six Gulf countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York . Iran and the US have continued indirect contacts through regional mediators. Qatar and Pakistan have been involved in efforts to revive negotiations after a Islamabad-hosted memorandum of understanding expired last month without producing a lasting settlement.