Iran snubs US ceasefire proposal as Middle East crisis worsens
By Associated Press, March 25, 2026The United States sent a 15-point plan to Iran for a possible ceasefire, an official said, even as it began to move paratroopers to the Mideast to back up a contingent of Marines heading there on Wednesday, March 25, 2026.
Iran’s military scoffed at the diplomatic effort and launched more attacks on Israel and the Gulf region, including an assault that sparked a fire at Kuwait International Airport.
With growing pressure on the United States to end the war as it nears the end of its first month, Washington submitted the plan to Iran by intermediaries from Pakistan, who have offered to host renewed negotiations, according to a person briefed on the contours of the proposal, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
Iran’s attacks on regional energy infrastructure and its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is usually shipped, have sent oil prices skyrocketing and rocked world markets over fears of a global energy crisis.
Troops amid diplomacy
At least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division will be sent to the Mideast in the coming days, three people with knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press.
The Pentagon is also in the process of deploying two Marine units that will add about 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the region. The moves are being framed as Trump manoeuvring to give himself “max flexibility” on what he will do next, the person added.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that American officials are in negotiations with Iran, though he hasn’t said who they are in contact with. Iran’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which commands both the regular military and the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, suggested that there are no talks.
“Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?” said Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for the headquarters.
“Our first and last word has been the same from day one, and it will stay that way: Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you,” Zolfaghari said in the video statement aired on state television. “Not now, not ever.”
Israel attacks Iran
Israeli officials, who have been advocating for Trump to continue the war against Iran, were surprised by the submission of a ceasefire plan, the official said.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
The Israeli military announced it had begun new wide-scale attacks early Wednesday on Iran targeting government infrastructure, and witnesses reported airstrikes in the northwestern city of Qazvin.
Missile alert sirens began early in the morning in Israel as Iran launched its own attacks, which have been a daily occurrence since Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war.
Iran also kept up the pressure on its Gulf Arab neighbours, with Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry saying it had destroyed at least eight drones in the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province, and missile alert sirens sounding in Bahrain.
Kuwait said it shot down multiple drones, but one hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a fire, the General Civil Aviation Authority said. Firefighters were working to contain the blaze.