The United States waited 10 days for Iran’s response to the framework for ending the war. When Tehran’s demands arrived on Sunday, they suggested the Islamic Republic remained intent on extracting victory despite President Donald Trump’s push for the regime’s surrender.
Although neither side has made public the exact terms under negotiation, Iranian state media reported that Tehran has called for a complete end to the war, formal recognition of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, and complete lifting of sanctions in response.
The bold demands led to a counterproposal, which President Trump quickly rejected. He found it “totally unacceptable” before calling it “rubbish”.
Amid the vagueness of the proposal, it remains unclear which specific elements President Trump opposed. Iranian state media has consistently framed Tehran’s position during the war as one of strength, consistent with the government’s apparent efforts to promote Iran’s victory to a domestic audience.
Since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran more than 10 weeks ago, the Islamic Republic has pursued a strategy of firmly rejecting any signs of surrender. Rather, the Iranian government portrays itself as ready to prolong the conflict if necessary to increase pressure on Washington, strengthen the regime financially, and extract key commitments that will ensure its long-term survival.
“They think I’m going to get tired, I’m going to get bored, I’m going to be under pressure,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “There’s no pressure at all. I’m going for a complete victory.”
Trump also complained that Iranian leaders “change their minds” when the two countries appear to be reaching a deal, which he lamented could reflect the Iranian military’s apparent refusal to approve measures that meet Trump’s demands.
The stalemate stems from differing priorities, one analyst said, with President Trump seeking a “quick and easy” victory that would include immediate concessions on Iran’s nuclear program, while Tehran is determined to delay those demands and win concessions of its own first.
In one of Iran’s proposals, it proposes a phased, step-by-step approach to negotiations, with an initial focus on declaring an end to the war on all fronts, lifting sanctions, and lifting the U.S. naval blockade, while deferring talks on its nuclear program to a later stage.
But President Trump has demanded that Iran formally halt its nuclear program for a period of time (US officials say they are hoping for at least 10 years) and hand over an estimated 440 kilograms of its existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
“There’s a conflict of perceptions,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. “We’re at a stalemate because President Trump doesn’t understand why they won’t make a deal to save themselves.”
“They won’t give him any concessions at the start of the deal because they don’t trust him,” Baqir said, adding that Iranians “were personally burned by him.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghai told a weekly press briefing that the “differences” with the US government were “between a party that only pursues its own fundamental rights and a party that insists on violating the rights of the other side.” He added that Iran’s demands were “reasonable” and “responsible.”
“The Iranian regime’s response reflects a leadership mindset that believes that Iran has survived and won the war, not lost the war,” Danny Sitrinowitz, a senior fellow at the National Security Institute, said of X. “As a result, Iran’s demands remain high and its appetite for compromise is extremely limited.”
And as President Trump seeks to pressure Iran, Tehran has signaled it wants a more comprehensive and durable agreement by demanding firm guarantees that the U.S. will not restart the war.
Ahead of President Trump’s visit to China this week, Iranian officials proposed that Beijing serve as a guarantor of a future deal. Last week, Iran sent Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to Beijing for talks with the Chinese side.
“Given China’s position towards Iran and other countries in the Persian Gulf region, China can be the guarantor of any agreement,” Iranian Ambassador to Beijing Abdulreza Rahman Fazli said in a post on X on Sunday. “A potential agreement would necessarily come with guarantees from major powers and must also be taken up by the UN Security Council.”
President Trump has long campaigned against dragging the United States into “endless wars,” but Iran is trying to drag him into a costly quagmire. Instead of the decisive victory he sought after the killing of the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader and his top commanders, the war became increasingly stalemated.
Despite a ceasefire between Iran and the United States more than a month ago, several naval skirmishes have broken out in the Strait of Hormuz as the two countries continue to tussle for control of the vital waterway.
US allies in the region also said Iran had struck again after weeks of calm, launching ballistic missiles and drones at their cities.
And as negotiations between the capitals stall, President Trump said Monday that the ceasefire was at risk of collapsing.
“I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support,” he told reporters at the White House.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic has indicated that it is satisfied with President Trump’s continued dissatisfaction with the proposal.
Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari told Sunday X that “no one in Iran has a plan to please President Trump,” adding, “The negotiating team must come up with a plan that only respects Iran’s rights. Naturally, it would be better if President Trump is not satisfied with that plan.”
