Name: Donald Trump insists US is negotiating with Iran over an end to war | BBC News
Uploaded: 2026-03-26T23:01:45.000Z
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President Trump claims Iran's leaders are afraid to admit they are negotiating with the US.

The Iranian foreign minister told state media that the fact Mr.

Adverbs of degree

Trump was even talking about negotiations and no longer demanding unconditional surrender was an admission of defeat.

Abbas Araghchi said Iran wanted the war to end on its terms and has countered the US proposal with its own five-point proposal.

It calls for an end to US and Israeli strikes and assassinations of Iranian officials, to ensure mechanisms that the war is not restarted.

The Iranian plan also demands war damages and reparations, and demands the war be concluded on all fronts.

That includes pro-Iranian armed groups in the region.

The plan also seeks guarantees of Iran's right to exercise authority over the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime channel for a fifth of the world's oil.

It came after Iran reportedly received a 15-point plan from the US, which Iran rejected.

Our North America correspondent, David Willis, reports.

Donald Trump insists negotiations are taking place with Iran aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East.

Addressing a fundraising event in Washington, D.C., last night, he said the Iranian leadership was simply too scared to admit it.

but they're afraid to say it because they figure they'll be killed by their own people.

They're also afraid they'll be killed by us.

Its resilience has surprised its enemies,

and the regime insists any talk of negotiation amounts to an admission of defeat.

The war will end on their terms, they say, not Donald Trump's.

I state firmly that there has been no negotiation or dialogue with the American side.

However, in recent days, the American side has begun sending various messages through different intermediaries.

Messages being conveyed through our friendly countries,

and us responding by stating our positions or issuing the necessary warnings, is not called negotiation or dialogue.

It is simply an exchange of messages through our friends.

Tel Aviv has come under Iranian attack, yet Israel's government has no desire to stop the war until Iran accepts total defeat and severs contact with its allies in the region.

Meanwhile, thousands more US troops are on their way to the Middle East, including paratroopers from the elite 82nd Airborne Division, prompting speculation about the possibility of an American ground assault possibly involving Iran's oil hub, Khark Island.

A vital pathway for oil and gas supplies, the Strait of Hormuz, remains blocked to all but a small number of vessels.

That's led to rising fuel prices, prompting the US Postal Service to impose an 8% surcharge on parcel deliveries.

One of Iran's conditions for ending the conflict would be recognition of its sovereignty over this vital waterway.

The US is insisting on the total dismantling of Iran's nuclear facilities.

And nearly four weeks into this conflict, any hope of an imminent de-escalation is looking increasingly unlikely.

Well, US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli strikes on Lebanon are continuing.

Two people have been killed by falling debris from an intercepted missile in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

Uh, these are pictures we're showing you from Kaffa Qasem in central Israel.

The city sustained extensive property damage following a missile attack there overnight.

Let's get more now and head to Jerusalem.

Talk to our correspondent, James Waterhouse.

Uh, James is obviously such there's, there's no clarity whatsoever in, in terms of who's negotiating, what is going on in that respect.

Israel launched these wave of strikes overnight.

Can you just bring us up to date on what's happening?

Yeah, it's been, uh, quite an eventful morning.

The Iranians have been launching several, uh, mounting several ballistic missile attacks on Israel.

and we've had quite a few loud, uh, large explosions as those, uh, missiles are presumably intercepted by, uh, in the case of Jerusalem, the city's effective, um, air defenses.

But this is it's, it's very hard, as you suggest, to, to, to get any kind of yardstick on, on where we are with the with the course of this conflict.

from inside Israel, there seems to be, uh, uh, the, the further implementation of a simple strategy, which is to weaken Iran, uh, and

its allies like Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

That is what is being reported in Israeli media, uh,

and that is the what you detect from Israeli ministers.

They it seems Israel have very little input to America's, uh, proposed, uh, peace plan,

but we're, we've just had claims here that they have killed the commander of the Iranian Navy in, in further missile attacks.

We're getting told about, uh, deep attacks overnight on Iranian targets, on missile factories, regime headquarters.

So there really is no letting up, despite the, the, the political racket surrounding this war.

James, I wonder, though, with these negotiations underway, according to President Trump, where does Israel fit into all of this, um, assuming that their war aims—that's the US and Israel's—are not the same?

Well, if you're Israel and you would like any kind of ceasefire agreement to, in the words of one minister, see it have no nukes, no, no capability to make nuclear weapons, to hamper its ability to manufacture missiles, to reduce its influence in the region,

and to support its proxy forces, um, if there was a ceasefire agreement which reflected that, then you think Israel would be happy.

As for these, you know, re you know, suggest for the suggestion of negotiations, it's not clear to what extent, uh, Israel is involved.

It has to follow, uh, i America's lead with the prosecution of this war.

within the confines of that, I think we are seeing you know, we've talked about the, the further strikes in Iran.

We're really seeing Israel, uh, extend its ground operations in southern Lebanon, targeting more and more settlements there, making more and more, uh, ground incursions.

Uh, so to what extent it's having input onto w-what would be acceptable grounds for this war to pause, that is not clear.

it's clearly wanting to strengthen its position and influence across the Middle East as much as possible.

And it, it really is doing that over, over certainly over the past few weeks.

James Waterhouse, our correspondent there in Jerusalem.