US Marines in camouflage: Thousands of soldiers are reaching the Middle East this week. image: Adryel Talamantes/Getty
A 15-point peace plan purports to end the war with Iran. The proposal from Washington was met with rejection in Tehran.
Mar 25, 2026, 10:44 p.mMar 25, 2026, 10:44 p.m
According to media reports, Trump therefore sent a peace plan to Tehran this week, which should include 15 points. The document supposedly regulates how a multinational force should guarantee shipping traffic in the currently blocked Strait of Hormuz in the future. The plan also includes new restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran should therefore forego all enriched nuclear material.
The regime in Tehran sees this massing of American troops as a sign that Trump is planning a ground offensive in Iran – to capture the oil terminals on the island of Kharg. “Do not test our resolve to defend our country,” said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, on Wednesday.
Is a meeting planned in Pakistan?
Ghalibaf is also said to be one of the regime representatives who are currently exploring whether the American president is serious about his peace plans. Messages are exchanged between Tehran and Washington via diplomatic contacts in Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey. The mediators are also planning direct or indirect negotiations to end the war, involving delegations from Washington and Tehran.
There are fears in Iran that the first meeting since the start of the war – which is supposed to take place this week in the Pakistani capital Islamabad – is a diversionary tactic or even a trap. Government sources point out that Israeli forces have murdered almost all of the Iranian government’s senior staff since late February.
US Marines: Is Trump planning a ground offensive? image: Kevin Carter/Getty
Trump is apparently considering appointing his deputy JD Vance as head of the American delegation so that Tehran can take part in the negotiations. Vice President Vance is considered an opponent of the Iran war in Washington; However, the Republican does not seem to have much influence in the internal discussions about the continuation of the military mission. Instead, Trump relies on his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who likes to appear martial. Hegseth said on Tuesday about possible peace talks with Iran: “We are negotiating with bombs.”
15-point peace plan met with rejection
But the American president also clearly has an interest in ending the war. The high energy prices, which are now making everyday life in America noticeably more expensive, are having a negative impact on his approval ratings. Trump has never been as unpopular as he is currently in his second term.
According to media reports, Trump therefore sent a peace plan to Tehran this week, which should include 15 points. The document supposedly regulates how a multinational force should guarantee shipping traffic in the currently blocked Strait of Hormuz in the future. The plan also includes new restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran should therefore forego all enriched nuclear material.
Iran, however, has already rejected an initial version of the plan and described Trump’s proposal as a “wish list”. A military spokesman said, according to the state news agency, that the USA had already “strategically” lost the war. And the Revolutionary Guards – a central pillar of the regime – are said to have made a counter-proposal to Washington demanding that the USA vacate all military bases in the Persian Gulf.
Because the American president has not yet revealed which regime figures his government is in contact with, it is almost impossible to assess the value of such statements. So far, Trump has only said that the Americans are “talking to the right people” who absolutely want to make peace and are prepared to give up the nuclear program.
Trump says the war is won
Trump spoke on Tuesday of a valuable “gift” that the Americans allegedly received from their negotiating partners in Iran. He said it had to do with oil or gas and the Strait of Hormuz, but refrained from describing the alleged vote of confidence in more detail – leaving his listeners perplexed, as has often been the case since the beginning of the war.
The American president also said during an appearance at the White House that the Iran war had already been won. Anyone who claims the opposite is selling “fake news” since the Americans and their Israeli allies have “completely defeated” the Iranian armed forces.
The question that remained unanswered was why he continued to send thousands of elite soldiers to the Middle East. (aargauerzeitung.ch)