Iran military mocks US attempts at ceasefire deal, says its negotiating with themselves
An Iranian military spokesperson mocked the United States attempts at a ceasefire deal on Wednesday, March 25, insisting that the Americans were only negotiating with themselves.
Lt Col Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, made the statement in a prerecorded video aired on state television.
“The strategic power you used to talk about has turned into a strategic failure,” he said. “The one claiming to be a global superpower would have already gotten out of this mess if it could. Don’t dress up your defeat as an agreement. Your era of empty promises has come to an end.”
He added, “Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?”
Zolfaghari’s statement came shortly after the Trump administration sent a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran through Pakistan.
“Our first and last word has been the same from day one, and it will stay that way. Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you,” he said. “Not now, not ever.”
“Stability in the region is guaranteed by the strong hand of our armed forces. Stability through strength,” Zolfaghari said.
“We state this clearly, until it is our will, nothing will go back to the way it was. That will only come about when the very thought of acting against the Iranian nation is completely wiped from your corrupt minds.”
Iran has received the US’s 15-point proposal to reach a ceasefire in the war, Pakistani officials said.
The Pakistani officials described the proposal broadly as touching on sanctions relief, civilian nuclear cooperation, a rollback of Iran’s nuclear program, monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, missile limits and access for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorised to release the details.
Crude oil prices declined more than 4 per cent to Rs 8,340 per barrel in futures trade on Wednesday, tracking weak global trends amid reports of possible negotiations between the US and Iran to end the war.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), crude oil for April delivery depreciated by Rs 396, or 4.5 per cent, to Rs 8,340 per barrel. The May contract also fell by Rs 305, or 3.58 per cent, to Rs 8,209 per barrel.
Analysts said crude prices came under pressure as a bearish sentiment gripped global energy markets following shifting geopolitical developments in West Asia.
“Crude oil prices took a hit on Wednesday, opening with a gap down as bearish sentiment takes hold,” Aamir Makda, Commodity & Currency Analyst at Choice Broking, said.
He added that much of this cooling is driven by a shift in the geopolitical landscape.
An Israeli drone attack in central Gaza killed two Palestinians. Medical sources told Al Jazeera the attacks were targeted at the Nuseirat refugee camp, accounting for the most recent violation of the ceasefire agreed in October 2025.
Aviation agency drones hit a fuel tank and sparked a fire at Kuwait International Airport, the Gulf state’s civil aviation authority said, reporting no casualties. Citing preliminary information, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement posted online that the attack had caused only “limited” damage.
Iraq’s Ministry of Defence says an airstrike on a military clinic in the Habbaniyeh area of Anbar province killed seven troops and wounded 13.
The ministry gave no further details about Wednesday’s strike, saying rescue teams remain at the site.
Earlier, it was reported that two soldiers and 20 others were injured in Anbar after airstrikes targeted the Popular Mobilisation Forces site in the province.
PMF, also known as Hashed al-Shaabi, was a former paramilitary coalition and is now part of Iraq’s army, but includes some Iranian-aligned groups.
The ministry condemned the attack, calling it a violation of international law and affirming its right to respond
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “wants to inflict upon Lebanon the same destruction he inflicted upon the Gaza Strip.”
The PM was speaking in the parliament on the war in West Asia on Wednesday.
Saudi representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Abdulmohsen Majed A Bikohothaila, said the Iranians attacks are a grave violation of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“We condemn the attacks by Iran against the Kingdom and the GCC member states,” he said.
“These are states that are not parties to the current conflict with Iran. They violate the UN Charter and international law. We must call things by their name.”
“To target a neighbour is a violation of the principles of good neighbourly relations. To target a mediator betrays all efforts aimed at peace and undermines any constructive initiative. To target states that are not party to the hostilities amounts to unacceptable and unjustifiable attacks that cannot be passed over in silence,” the representative added.
The UN Human Rights Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the Iranian attacks on Gulf countries and Jordan. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, warned that the war has created an “extremely dangerous and unpredictable” situation.
“This conflict has an unprecedented power to ensnare countries across borders and around the world,” he said. ““The only guaranteed way to prevent this is to end the conflict, and I urge all states, and particularly those with influence, to do everything in their power to achieve this.”
Attacks near nuclear sites threaten further escalation and must be curbed. More than a thousand people were killed in Lebanon due to Israeli attacks in three weeks.
Hezbollah said Wednesday its air defence units fired surface-to-air missiles toward an Israeli warplane that was conducting strikes over southern Lebanon on Tuesday evening.
Hezbollah said the plane was forced to withdraw, adding it was the first time the group fired surface-to-air missiles against an Israeli warplane since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war broke out on March 2.
Hezbollah last week said it shot down an Israeli drone over the southern village of Baraachit.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Iran also has claimed use of a new surface-to-air missile system during the war.
The Jan Hastakshep, a civil rights organisation, has slammed the NDA government for its “deafening silence” amidst the US-Israel and Iran conflict and termed the attack on the Persian nation as “unprovoked”.
In a statement issued after a seminar held on Tuesday, March 24, the Hastakshep said the current conflict, along with similar wars in the past, constitutes part of a persistent pattern of the US military aggression directed against sovereign nations.
The seminar was inaugurated by former union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and attended by journalists Praveen Sahni, Saeed Naqvi, and President of the JNU Teachers’ Association Saeed Akhtar Hussain, among others.
“Amidst the US-Israel-Iran conflict, the Narendra Modi government has steered India’s foreign policy to a juncture where it is currently crawling on its knees,” the statement said.
The seminar was held under the theme: “The Attack on Iran by US and Israeli Zionist Imperialism, and the Modi Government’s Deafening Silence.”
Israelis were woken three times early Wednesday by sirens warning of incoming missiles.
The Iranian attacks triggered alerts in parts of central Israel, the southernmost city of Eilat and the southern city of Dimona, near a facility key to Israel’s long-suspected atomic weapons program.
There were no reported injuries or damage, with the missiles likely intercepted or falling in open areas.
In the north, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets toward Israeli communities in multiple overnight volleys with no known injuries, the Israeli military said.
On Tuesday, a woman was killed by shrapnel while driving on a northern Israel road. She is the war’s first Israeli death caused by fire from Lebanon.
(With inputs from agencies)
This post was last modified on March 25, 2026 5:33 pm