Iran-US war latest: Tehran ‘closely monitoring’ US troop movement after receiving Trump’s 15-point peace plan

Iranian officials indicate the regime is not considering the US plans for a peace deal.

Ebrahim Zolfaqari, the top spokesperson for Iran’s joint military command, said on Wednesday: “Has the level of your inner struggle reached the stage of you (Trump) negotiating with yourself?”

“People like us can never get along with people like you. As we have always said … no one like us will make a deal with you. Not now. Not ever.”

Iran’s leadership has previously said it cannot negotiate with the U.S. as Washington has attacked the country twice during high-level negotiations in the past two years.

Iran had a “very bad experience with American diplomacy,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told India Today on Tuesday.

There was no dialogue or negotiations with Washington, as Iran’s armed forces are focused on defending the country, he added.

At least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division will be sent to the Mideast in the coming days, three people with knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press.

They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.

The paratroopers are trained to jump into hostile or contested areas to secure key territory and airfields.

The Pentagon is also in the process of sending about 5,000 more Marines, trained in amphibious assaults, and thousands of sailors to the region.

Donald Trump has reportedly offered Iran a 15-point plan aimed at ending the war for good, as the month-long conflict continues to inflict pain on global markets and the president’s popularity at home.

US and Israeli media have reported on a proposal addressing longstanding concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme and reversing the fallout from the war.

A source told Reuters it was passed to Iran via Pakistan late on Tuesday, as Trump said – without reference to the rumoured plan – that the US and Iran have already agreed on several key points, including that Iran would give up any ambitions for nuclear weapons.

Here’s what’s said to be in the plan and what it means:

Israel claims it carried out an “extensive” wave of strikes across Iran’s underwater research facility in the city of Isfahan on Tuesday.

The IDF says the centre is responsible for producing submarines and other support for the Iranian navy.

Keir Starmer is set to face questions over the UK’s response to the Iran war in the final PMQs before parliamentary recess.

You can follow our UK politics blog here:

The Israeli military announced this morning that “a short while ago” it carried out several waves of strikes on Tehran.

Iran claims to have fired upon the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

“The Iranian Navy’s Qader cruise missiles (shore-based anti-ship missile) targeted the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier belonging to the US and forced it to change its position,” read a statement from the military carried by Iranian state TV.

Navy chief Admiral Shahram Irani said: “As soon as this hostile fleet comes within range of our missile systems, it will be subjected to powerful strikes by the Iranian Navy.”

Food inflation could more than double by the summer if the Iran war continues, adding hundreds of pounds to grocery bills for already stretched families.

That is the warning from trade body the Institute of Grocery Distribution – figures that will alarm consumers and a government already concerned about a heavy dose of inflation due to the crisis.

The US is reported to have sent Iran a 15-point peace plan aimed at ending the war, now approaching its second month.

We have not had any official confirmation of what such a proposal might contain at this stage. Trump says Iran has agreed to never have a nuclear weapon.

Israel’s Channel 12 had reported that the plan includes the following demands:

– Iran’s major nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow – the targets of last year’s 12-day war – will be taken out of use and destroyed;

– The UN’s nuclear watchdog will be able to oversee activity in Iran again;

– Iran will abandon the use of armed proxies in the region and stop funding regional affiliates, like Hezbollah;

– Iran will dismantle existing nuclear capabilities and commit to never trying to procure nukes;

– No nuclear material will be enriched in Iran and all enriched material will be handed to the IAEA;

– The Strait of Hormuz will remain open;

– Iranian missiles will be limited in quantity and range, only used for defence.

Iran in return would receive the following assurances from the US:

– American help in developing a civilian nuclear project for electricity production;

– The removal of all sanctions;

– The removal of the threat of renewing sanctions.

US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs have been used to strike Iranian naval vessels during Operation Epic Fury, Centcom says, sharing pictures of the iconic warplanes.

The aircraft was introduced in the 1970s and has been a mainstay of the USAF, used to provide close air support to ground forces by attacking armoured vehicles with its massive 30mm GAU-8/A Gatling Gun, firing 3,900 rounds per minute.

Last week, US general Dan Caine announced the warplanes had entered the war in missions along Iran’s southern flank, “hunting and killing fast-attack watercraft in the Straits of Hormuz”.