Iran says demanded end to war, release of assets in response to US
- By AFP -
- May 11, 2026
TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry said Monday it had called for an end to the war across the region and the release of frozen assets abroad in its response to the latest US proposal.
“We did not demand any concessions. The only thing we demanded was Iran’s legitimate rights,” said ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.
He said Iran’s demands included “an end to the war in the region”, ending the US naval blockade, and the “release of assets belonging to the Iranian people, which have for years been unjustly trapped in foreign banks”.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported Iran laid out its own demands to Washington and proposed to have some of its highly enriched uranium diluted, and the rest transferred to a third country.
In its response, delivered through mediator Pakistan, Iran sought guarantees that the transferred uranium will be returned if negotiations fail or Washington quits the agreement later, sources told the Journal.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB, earlier reported that Tehran’s response to the US plan, passed to Pakistani mediators, focuses on ending the war “on all fronts, especially Lebanon” — where Israel has kept up its fight with Iran-backed Hezbollah — as well as on “ensuring shipping security.”
It offered little detail, though the US proposal had reportedly focused on extending the truce in the Gulf to allow for talks on a final settlement of the conflict and on Iran’s nuclear program.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday branded Iran’s terms for ending the Middle East war “totally unacceptable,” raising the likelihood of renewed conflict after weeks of negotiations.
Iran had responded to Washington’s latest peace proposal earlier in the day, while warning it would not hold back from retaliating against any new US strikes or permit more foreign warships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump himself provided no details on Tehran’s counterproposal, but in a brief post on his Truth Social platform made clear he was rejecting it.