Iran sends revised proposal to end war through Pakistani mediator
Islamabad sent Washington a modified Iranian proposal to end the war last night, a Pakistani source said, noting that differences between the two sides remain significant.
The source added in a statement to Reuters on Monday, May 18, 2026, that time is "narrowing" for the possibility of reaching an understanding, as the two parties continue to change their terms, as he put it.
Iran: UAE must learn lessons from recent events
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei also confirmed that indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington are still ongoing through the Pakistani mediator, despite the escalating tensions in the region.
Baghaei's remarks came during his weekly press conference in Tehran, where he stressed that his country "is not hostile to any country in the region," but called on neighboring countries, especially the United Arab Emirates, to "draw lessons from recent events," referring to the attacks on the UAE and other Arab countries as part of what Tehran described as a military response to the operations launched on them by Tel Aviv and Washington since February 28.
The Iranian official revealed that he is in constant contact with the Sultanate of Oman to set up an organizational mechanism in the Strait of Hormuz, stressing that his country is making efforts to ensure the security of navigation in the vital corridor and that the US and Israeli presence in the region "does not achieve security for any party."
Baghaei said Iran "will not abandon its interests under economic pressure and threats," adding that the United States is "well aware of this."
The IRGC reveals Washington's 5 conditions in negotiations
Iran's Fars News Agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), revealed on Sunday the details of what it said was the official US response to Iranian proposals in the ongoing negotiations between the two sides, noting that Washington has provided five basic conditions for agreeing to any possible agreement.
According to the agency, the U.S. conditions included refusing to pay any fines or compensation to Iran, handing over 400 kilograms of Iranian uranium to the United States, and maintaining only one nuclear facility inside Iran. The U.S. response also included not returning 25 percent of Iran's frozen assets, and linking a cessation of war on all fronts as soon as negotiations began, without making any prior commitment to end military operations.
According to Fars, Washington informed the Iranian side that the threat of US and Israeli military aggression will remain even if Tehran accepts these conditions, which reflects, according to the agency, a US hardening approach to the nuclear file and related regional files.
Iran demands cessation of war on all fronts
On the other hand, the agency spoke of 5 corresponding Iranian conditions that Tehran considered necessary to build confidence before entering into any agreement, including a cessation of the war on all fronts, especially in Lebanon, a full lifting of US sanctions, the release of all frozen Iranian assets, as well as compensation for the losses resulting from the war, and Washington's recognition of Iran's full right to sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
These leaks come in light of the escalation of regional tension and the overlap of military, political and economic files, which makes the course of negotiations contingent, according to observers, on the ability of the two parties to overcome the wide gap between their mutual conditions.