Iran Signals Tentative Response to U.S. Peace Proposal as War Drags On

Iran has offered a response to the United States’ latest peace proposal amid a war now entering its tenth week, a senior foreign diplomat in Tehran told MS NOW. However, the details of Iran’s reply remain unclear, and the diplomat cautioned that “mistrust needs to be seriously reduced” before any meaningful progress can be made.

This development follows a meeting in Miami between top Trump administration officials and Qatar’s prime minister, as well as a ceasefire agreement brokered by Pakistan over a month ago. Yet, despite these diplomatic efforts, hostilities persist, including naval blockades and retaliatory strikes.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that the ceasefire holds, even as the U.S. launched strikes last week against Iranian targets in response to attacks on U.S. Navy destroyers. Trump downplayed the conflict, calling one strike “a love tap,” and claimed in a recent interview that the U.S. has hit “probably 70 percent” of its targets and that Iran has “no leaders” or “no military.” Still, he acknowledged that combat operations are ongoing.

On Iran’s side, President Masoud Pezeshkian declared on social media that dialogue does not mean surrender, asserting, “We will never bow our heads before the enemy.” Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, condemned the U.S. deployment of additional naval forces near the Strait of Hormuz as an escalation and a cover-up for the real causes of regional insecurity.

Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz described Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as “severely injured” and difficult to reach, signaling potential instability within Iran’s leadership. Waltz admitted that negotiations are “longer and slower” than desired but insisted that diplomatic efforts continue.

This standoff highlights the Trump administration’s pattern of using foreign conflict to distract from domestic scandals and consolidate power, even as the risk of further escalation threatens regional stability. The war’s persistence underlines the urgent need for transparent, accountable diplomacy—not military brinkmanship masquerading as peace talks.