With a fragile ceasefire under strain and diplomacy stuck in a deepening impasse, US President Donald Trump is preparing to convene his top national security team this week to weigh military options against Iran.
The high-level Situation room meeting, first reported by Axios, comes hours after Trump sharply escalated his rhetoric against Iran, warning that “the clock is ticking" and cautioning that “there won't be anything left of them" if Iranian leaders fail to respond to US demands.
The development raised the spectre of a return to 'Operation Epic Fury', the devastating air and naval campaign that reshaped the Middle East earlier this year.
The crisis traces back to February 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iranian nuclear and military installations. Iran retaliated by throttling shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, sending global energy markets into turmoil.
A ceasefire was eventually reached on April 8, brokered by Pakistan after 40 days of conflict. But permanent peace has remained elusive. The earlier proposed 14- points peace plan by Iran, has been rejected by US as Trump called it "unacceptable".
Washington has now proposed to Tehran with five fresh conditions.
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According to the Fars news agency, Washington presented a list of five conditions, including:.
Here are the five US conditions:
1. Transfer of Enriched Uranium Washington is demanding that Iran hand over nearly 400 kilograms of enriched uranium — a stockpile that, if further enriched, could theoretically be used in a nuclear weapon. Iran has so far refused to ship the material out of the country.
2. Limiting Operational Nuclear Facilities The U.S. is insisting that only one set of Iran's nuclear facilities be allowed to remain operational, effectively dismantling the broader nuclear infrastructure that survived the February strikes.
3. No Compensation for Iran Washington has refused to compensate Iran for losses caused by earlier sanctions and American policy decisions — a demand Tehran had placed at the centre of any trust-building framework.
4. Blocking Release of Frozen Assets The U.S. has reportedly opposed releasing even 25 per cent of Iran's frozen overseas assets, a major sticking point given Tehran's battered economy and its insistence on tangible economic relief.
5. Regional Conflict Linkage Washington has linked the continuation of talks to an end to conflicts across different regional fronts, effectively tying a nuclear deal to Iran's support for armed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and beyond — a demand Tehran has consistently rejected as overreach.
Iran responded defiantly to the proposal, saying its armed forces are fully prepared to confront any new attacks by the US or its allies, Iranian News Agency reported.
The proposal has been reported by Iran's state media as deeply one-sided. “The United States, offering no tangible concessions, wants to obtain concessions that it failed to obtain during the war. This will lead to an impasse in the negotiations,” the Mehr news agency reported.
Meanwhile, with Trump warning that the "clock is ticking", a Situation Room meeting imminent, and Iran's hardening stance, the window for diplomacy is narrowing fast.
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