Iran Says It Is Reviewing New US Ceasefire Proposal, Demands Asset Release and End to Blockade First

Iran said it has received a new proposal from the US and is reviewing it, as ceasefire talks between Washington and Tehran remain deadlocked.

On May 20, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told state television that Iran had received the US position and was examining it closely.

He added that Pakistan's interior minister was in Tehran to help facilitate exchanges of messages between the two sides.

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency had earlier reported that Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Iran again on May 20 after a previous trip on May 16.

Baghaei laid out what he called prerequisites for talks aimed at ending the war, including the release of Iran's frozen overseas assets and an end to what he described as a US maritime blockade.

At this stage, Iran is focused on ending the war across all fronts, including Lebanon, and its demands are clear.

The issues of unfreezing Iran's assets, what he called acts of piracy, and interference targeting Iranian shipping have been clear from the outset, he said.

Baghaei said Iran has participated in the talks in good faith and with sincerity, and called on the US to prove it is acting with the same sincerity.

If the process moves forward on the basis of Iran's legitimate demands, diplomacy can be considered a success, he said. If not, and if the US continues to insist on what he called unfair demands, it will not succeed.

Park Sang-kyung, Hankyung.com reporter highseoul@hankyung.com