Iran military says US is negotiating with itself

DUBAI — Iran’s military has suggested the United States might be negotiating with itself as US President Donald Trump said Tehran wants to make a deal to end the ⁠war in the Middle East. A 15-point plan aimed at putting an end to the conflict was drafted by Washington and sent to Tehran, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. “Has the level of your inner struggle reached ‌the ⁠stage of you negotiating with yourself?” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for the unified command of Iran’s armed forces, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, ⁠taunted the US leadership. “People like us can never get along with people like you.”Zolfaqari said ⁠US investments and pre-war energy prices would not return as long as ⁠Washington does not accept that regional stability is guaranteed by Iranian armed forces. US President Donald Trump has expressed optimism a deal was in sight and said that Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were “in negotiations right now.” But Tehran has yet to confirm talks, saying only that messaged had passed via intermediaries. “The strategic power you once boasted about has turned into a strategic defeat.” Zolfaqari said, adding that energy and oil prices would not return to how they were before until US leaders “erased” the idea of attacking Iran from their minds. Oil prices have eased this week after Trump raised the prospect of talks, but remain much higher than they were ahead of the war. Trump said on Monday that Tehran had been given a list of 15 US conditions for peace, including that it abandoned any plans to build nuclear weapons. Trump has been touting talks with Iran to find a way to end the war, but Tehran remains skeptical of Washington’s intentions. “Can anyone believe their claims of diplomacy or mediation are credible when they started this war and continue attacking us?” said Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, in an interview with India Today on Tuesday night. “No one can trust US diplomacy,” he added. US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expected to lead any US negotiations with Iran, with Pakistan –– which has a close cultural relationship with Iran –– suggested as a venue. But Tehran has yet to agree to talks and, so far, messages have only been passed between intermediaries. “We have a very catastrophic experience with US diplomacy,” Baghaei told India Today. “We were attacked twice within a span of nine months while we were in the middle of a negotiating process to resolve the nuclear issue. This was a betrayal of diplomacy… and it happened not once but twice.” An Iranian source told CNN that Tehran is willing to listen to “sustainable” proposals to end the war. Baghaei said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was “responsible for Iran’s foreign diplomacy, and he is fulfilling that role.” There had been reports that the US may have been looking to negotiate with Iran Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, which Tehran was quick to dismiss. “The Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Ghalibaf, is a high-profile politician who functions within the mandates and authorities given under the constitution. The division of labour among our authorities is clear-cut and transparent,” said Baghaei in the India Today interview. — Agencies