Iran defends its two-day peace talks proposal as 'most reasonable' after Rubio calls its conditions 'outrageous and ridiculous'
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Monday defended a proposal to restart peace talks with the US in as few as two days, calling it the most reasonable offer on the table, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed Tehran's conditions as 'outrageous and ridiculous'. The proposal asks Washington to halt hostilities, lift its naval blockade and waive sanctions first; Iran says the Strait of Hormuz would then reopen on the second day. Rubio said he did not believe a breakthrough was imminent. Qatar's prime minister, the war's chief mediator, meets President Trump in Washington on Monday.
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Key points
- Baghaei: the two-day plan is 'the most reasonable' offer, and Hormuz security returns within 48 hours if the US meets Iran's demands.
- The terms: the US first halts hostilities, lifts the naval blockade and waives sanctions; Hormuz reopens on day two.
- Rubio: the demands are 'outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic', and no breakthrough is imminent.
- Qatar's prime minister meets Trump and Vance in Washington on Monday, after visiting Tehran last week.
What happened
The exchange is the latest round in the indirect diplomacy that has run alongside the war since it began on 28 February: a June memorandum and a short-lived truce collapsed, Iran set out a seven-day plan at the UN General Assembly in September, and last week Tehran sent seven demands to Washington via Qatar. The two-day proposal is that framework compressed — the same conditions, offered on a faster clock.
It lands on a crowded Monday: the Qatari prime minister's White House meetings, Rubio's departure for the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris, and President Trump's own statement on Sunday that new US attacks on Iran were 'highly unlikely'.
Claim by claim
Why this label: Baghaei's own words at the press conference, as reported by Reuters, with the Hormuz 48-hour line in IRNA/ISNA's account of the same briefing, reported by ANI. That he said it is verified; whether the US accepts the terms is a separate question, carried below.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The plan's terms as reported by Reuters from Baghaei's briefing; the day-one/day-two structure is Araghchi's own description, reported by Al Jazeera. The demands develop the seven demands Iran sent via Qatar the previous week.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Rubio's own words, as reported by Reuters and Al Jazeera in agreement. His position is carried as the US position, not as a finding on the proposal's merits.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
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Why this label: The meetings and the mediation role as reported by Reuters; the Thursday delivery of the proposal via Qatari mediators is Al Jazeera's account.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Baghaei's remarks at the same press conference, as reported by Reuters. Both are carried as Iran's positions.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Al Jazeera reports the US is examining the proposal conveyed on Thursday; examination is not acceptance, and no acceptance has been announced.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- What each side demands and rejects, in their own spokesmen's words on Sunday and Monday.
- That Qatar's prime minister meets Trump and Vance on Monday, having visited Tehran last week.
What we don't know yet
- Whether the US accepts any part of the two-day sequence — it has repeatedly rejected the terms, and no acceptance has been announced.
- What comes out of Monday's White House meetings — they had not taken place when this was published.
Why it matters
The gap between the sides is now stated in public, in their own words, on the same day: Iran will not talk until the blockade, sanctions and bombing stop first, and the US calls that sequence unrealistic. Whether Qatar's prime minister can move either side off those positions is the live question of the war's diplomacy this week.
Background
Show the background timeline (6)
The US and Israel launch the war on Iran.
A memorandum of understanding signed in Islamabad and a short-lived truce, led on the US side by Vice President Vance, later collapse.
Iran sets out a seven-day plan at the UN General Assembly.
Iran sends its seven demands to the US via Qatar, and its latest proposal reaches Washington through Qatari mediators.
Rubio calls Iran's conditions 'outrageous and ridiculous'; Trump says new attacks are 'highly unlikely'.
Baghaei defends the two-day plan in Tehran; Qatar's prime minister meets Trump and Vance in Washington.
Update history
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Published in Checking state — Monday's White House meetings with Qatar's prime minister had not yet taken place, and the proposal's fate is unsettled.