Trump Insists Iran Wants to Make a Deal 'So Badly'

US President Trump said Wednesday that a deal to end the Iran war is near, after Tehran dismissed his 15-point ceasefire plan and issued its own sweeping demands to stop fighting as it launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries, the AP reports. Trump insisted at a Republican fundraiser Wednesday night that talks were underway with Iran's leaders. "They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly, but they're afraid to say it because they figure they'll be killed by their own people," Trump said.

Two officials from Pakistan described the 15-point US proposal broadly, saying it included sanctions relief, a rollback of Iran's nuclear program, limits on missiles, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is normally shipped. Iran issued its own plan via state TV, which includes a halt to killings of its officials, means to make sure no other war is waged against it, reparations for the war, the end of hostilities, and Iran's sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. "No negotiations have happened with the enemy until now, and we do not plan on any negotiations," Iran's foreign minister later told state TV.