Iran Values US Demands for Negotiations as 'Excessive'

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Esmaeil Baghaei. (Source: IRNA)

JAKARTA - Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Monday said Iran received a message through intermediaries showing the willingness of the United States to negotiate, but considered Washington's proposal "unrealistic, illogical, and excessive."

Baghaei said Iran welcomed the efforts of regional countries to achieve peace, but a "realistic" view of the events was needed.

"Our position is clear. We are under military aggression. Therefore, all our efforts and forces are focused on defending ourselves," Baghaei explained, launching Al Arabiya (30/3).

Baghaei's comments came after US President Donald Trump said Iran "delivered" most of the 15 demands the US had put forward to Tehran to end the war, although it was unclear whether the two sides were negotiating.

"They gave us most of the points. Why not?" he told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday.

"We will ask for some other things," he continued, but declined to say what concessions Iran had offered.

Previously, Iran had publicly rejected a list of 15 points of the US ceasefire conditions submitted by the Trump administration through intermediaries in Pakistan, and responded with its own five conditions, including maintaining sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

It is known that the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28, killing more than 1,340 people, including the late Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering tensions in the Middle East.

In response, the State of the Mullahs retaliated with drone strikes and missiles targeting Israel, along with Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf states hosting US military assets, causing casualties and infrastructure damage and disrupting global markets and flights, including tight control of the vital Strait of Hormuz through which 20 percent of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas pass.