Iran offers a new proposal to end war

Iran has presented regional mediators with a new offer to stop its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a full end to the war and a lifting of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, said officials familiar with the matter.

The proposal, presented by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi over the weekend, is designed to break the deadlock in the conflict and set talks back in motion, the people said. It would see discussions about Iran’s nuclear program shelved. Iran’s mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Araghchi on Monday met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who praised Iran’s resistance amid the U.S. and Israeli military campaign, and pledged Moscow’s help in resolving the conflict.

President Trump discussed Iran’s new proposal with his national-security team on Monday, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday said he believes Iran is serious about making a deal with the U.S., but added the U.S. won’t allow Tehran to control the strait.

The U.S. imposed a blockade on Iranian ports this month to put pressure on Tehran over its de facto closure of the strait. Talks between the two sides collapsed this month. Iran’s latest offer envisions a three-stage peace plan, with the first requiring the U.S. and Israel to end the war and provide guarantees not to start it again, the officials said.

Tehran proposed that mediators would then resolve the closure of the strait and help reach a deal for the management of the waterway, the officials said. Iranian officials told mediators that Tehran still aims to have the strait under its control, and only then would it start negotiations on its nuclear program and other issues such as its funding to proxies in the region, the officials said.

However, Raz Zimmt, director of the Iran program at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said such a formula was unlikely to result in a long-term cessation of Iran’s nuclear program. “It is clear to all that whatever is not resolved by the end of the war is highly unlikely to be resolved afterward,” he said in a post on X.

Regional mediators have recommended that Tehran and Washington continue to negotiate remotely until both sides are close enough to reach an understanding, the officials said. The proposal was earlier reported by Axios.

Elsewhere in the region, the death toll from Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon has reached 2,521 people since March 2, with an additional 7,804 wounded, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Monday. Israel’s military said one of its soldiers was killed and five others wounded, three seriously, in a Hezbollah drone strike Sunday in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun traded accusations of treason on Monday, as the militant group and Israel expanded attacks.

Right-wing former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the centrist head of the opposition, Yair Lapid, on Sunday said they would unite and run together in elections this year, in the first sign that the opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is crystallizing.

Write to Summer Said at summer.said@wsj.com, Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com and Alexander Ward at alex.ward@wsj.com