The United States is poised to deploy airborne troops to the Middle East as strikes intensify, signalling it may consider boots on the ground despite Donald Trump’s claims of “very good” talks with Iran. The US president reportedly delivered a 15-point negotiation plan to Tehran via Pakistan, according to the New York Times, citing two officials briefed on the diplomacy.
Early on Wednesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launched a new wave of attacks against locations in Israel, including Tel Aviv and Kiryat Shmona, as well as US bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain. Drones hit a fuel tank and sparked a fire at Kuwait International Airport, the Gulf state’s civil aviation authority said. In Lebanon, state media reported Israeli strikes had killed at least six people in a town and a Palestinian refugee camp in the southern Sidon area, and three more in another town.
An Iranian military spokesperson mocked the 15-point framework plan for peace that Trump has claimed is being discussed. Lt Col Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on state media: “Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves? 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.”
According to Israel’s Channel 12 news, the proposals would require Iran to dismantle key nuclear facilities, halt enrichment, transfer existing material and commit to never pursuing nuclear weapons, while granting full access to international inspectors. They also include limits on missile range and use, an end to funding and arming regional proxies, and guarantees to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. In return, sanctions would be lifted, the snapback mechanism removed, and Iran supported in developing a civilian nuclear programme. Channel 12 also reported that Trump’s advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were proposing a month-long ceasefire as part of the negotiations.
The US on Tuesday appeared poised to send a combat team to the Middle East comprising up to 3,000 troops from the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division, according to the Wall Street Journal. The paratroopers would join thousands of US marines already heading for the Gulf, where Trump could order them to wrest control of the Strait of Hormuz or storm or blockade Iran’s oil hub on Kharg Island. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the war would continue “unabated” even as Trump was exploring the “possibility” of diplomacy.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump did not give specific details of the supposed talks but said “they’re going to make a deal”. He claimed Iran had offered the US a “very specific prize” related to the flow of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz and had given Washington a “very big present worth a significant amount of money”. Trump also claimed Iran “agreed they will never have a nuclear weapon”.
