Iran is reviewing a US proposal to end the war in the Gulf but has no intention of holding talks to end the widening Middle East conflict, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested some willingness ⁠by Tehran to negotiate an end to the war if its demands were met.

Still, the exchange of messages through mediators "does not mean negotiations with the US," he said on state television.

"They put forward ideas in their messages that were conveyed to top authorities, and if necessary, a position will be announced by them," Araghchi said.

"At present, our policy is the continuation of resistance," he said on state TV, adding that the United States "speaking of negotiations now is an admission of defeat" by Washington.

US President Donald Trump's 15-point proposal, sent through Pakistan, calls for removing Iran's stocks of highly enriched uranium, halting enrichment, curbing its ballistic missile program and cutting off funding for regional allies, according to three Israeli cabinet sources familiar with the plan.

The White House declined to disclose specifics of its proposal and threatened to escalate its strikes.

"If they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily, and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are ⁠hit harder than they have ever been hit before," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

A senior Israeli ⁠defence official said Israel was skeptical Iran ⁠would agree to the terms, and that Israel was concerned US negotiators might make concessions. Israel also wants any agreement to preserve its option to conduct pre-emptive strikes, a second source said.

The Iranian official quoted by Press TV said Tehran has put forward its own five conditions for hostilities to end.

These include a robust mechanism guaranteeing that neither Israel nor the US will resume the war as well as compensation for war damages.

Iran's conditions also include a cessation of hostilities on all regional fronts and against all "resistance groups" – an implicit reference to the Tehran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Tehran also wants international recognition and guarantees of Iran's rights to exercise its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

The Pentagon is meanwhile planning to send thousands of airborne troops to the Gulf to give Trump more options to order a ground assault, sources have told the Reuters news agency, adding to two contingents of Marines already on their way. The first Marine ⁠unit, aboard a huge amphibious assault ship, could arrive around the end of the month.

Iran could open a new front at the mouth of the Red Sea if attacks are carried out on its territory, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency cited an unnamed military source as saying on Wednesday. The source said that Iran has the capability to pose a "credible threat" in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which lies between Yemen and Djibouti.

Iran's parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said his country would attack an unnamed neighbouring country if it cooperated with efforts by "the enemies" to occupy one of its islands.

Since the start of what the US calls "Operation Epic Fury", Iran has attacked countries that host US bases and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.

UN Secretary-General Antonio ⁠Guterres on Wednesday warned: The "world is staring down the barrel of a wider war" in the region.

"It is time to stop climbing the escalation ladder – and start climbing the diplomatic ladder," he said at the UN headquarters in New York.

The war has raged with no let-up in air attacks against Iran, or in Iranian drone and missile strikes against Israel and US allies.

The Israeli military described several new waves of attacks against Iranian naval shipyards and other targets. The semi-official Iranian SNN News Agency said a residential area ⁠was hit in Tehran, with rescuers searching the rubble.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had launched new attacks against Israel and US bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain. (Agencies)



Edited by Cecil Wong