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Published : 26 Mar 2026, 12:45 AM
Pulse of the War: Mar 25
State of US-Iran talks: The White House said talks with Iran are proceeding apace, even after Tehran did not immediately accept a 15-point plan to end the war. According to two administration officials, the US is working to arrange a meeting in Pakistan to discuss an off-ramp. Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says there are currently no negotiations taking place between Tehran and Washington, while noting that the US is sending message through different mediators, which “does not mean negotiations”. He stressed that Iran is not seeking war and wants a permanent end to the conflict. (Source: CNN, Al Jazeera)
Trump’s timeline: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the expected timeline for the war with Iran remains four to six weeks. Her statement comes amid US efforts at diplomatic negotiations with Iran.(Source: CNN)
Iran’s stance on US proposal: Iran is reviewing a US proposal to end the war in the Gulf but has no intention of holding talks to end the widening Middle East conflict, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday. The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi suggested some willingness by Tehran to negotiate an end to the war if its demands were met. Still, the exchange of messages through mediators "does not mean negotiations with the US," he said on state television. (Source: Reuters, CNN)
Trump’s May visit to China: US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in May during his first visit to China in eight years, a closely watched trip postponed due to the ongoing Iran war. His effort to reschedule the trip reflected the Republican president's eagerness to project confidence in a challenging Middle East war and simultaneously to manage a tense relationship between the world's biggest economies. Initially slated to travel next week, Trump will now visit Beijing on May 14 and 15, he said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday. The visit is expected to include talks with Xi on trade issues following a tariff war that eased in late 2025. (Source: Reuters, Al Jazeera)
Strait of Hormuz: International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez says around 2,000 vessels and 20,000 sailors are stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, describing the situation as a major challenge for global shipping. He warned that the longer ships remain stuck, the more crews face mental stress, fatigue and dwindling supplies needed for operations. He added that many insurance companies are refusing to cover losses, with some cancelling contracts or sharply increasing premiums. (Source: Al Jazeera)
Iran is still reviewing a US proposal to end the war in the Gulf, despite an initial response that was negative, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday, indicating that Tehran had so far stopped short of rejecting it outright.
Publicly, Iranian officials poured withering scorn on the prospect of any negotiations with the administration of US President Donald Trump. But an apparent delay in providing a formal response to Pakistan, which delivered a 15-point proposal on behalf of Washington, appeared to signal that at least some figures in Tehran may be considering it.
The senior Iranian official's comments that the proposal was still under review - though the initial response was "not positive" - appeared to contradict a report by Iran's Press TV that cited an unidentified official as saying Iran had rejected it.
A senior Pakistani security official said that Pakistan had followed up with Iran's foreign minister and was still awaiting a formal reply.
A second Pakistani source said: "The Iranians told us they will get back to us tonight. The media is reporting they’ve said no. But we have not received any official confirmation from Iran. So we are just waiting. They are all underground and communication is big challenge."
Another senior Iranian official had earlier confirmed that Tehran had received a proposal and said that talks, if they went ahead, could be held in either Pakistan or Turkey.
Markets Respond Positively to Proposal
Global equity markets regained some ground while oil prices dipped on Wednesday after reports that Washington had sent the proposal to Iran, with investors hoping for an end to a war that has disrupted global energy supplies and risks fuelling inflation.
Three Israeli cabinet sources said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet had been briefed on the US proposal. They said its terms included removing Iran's stocks of highly enriched uranium, halting enrichment, curbing its ballistic missile programme and ending funding for regional allies.
A senior Israeli defence official said Israel was sceptical Iran would agree to the terms, and that Israel was concerned that US negotiators might make concessions. Israel also wants any agreement to preserve its option to conduct pre-emptive strikes, a second source said.
The White House declined to disclose specifics of its proposal and threatened to escalate its strikes.
"If they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily, and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Troops on the Move
The Pentagon is meanwhile planning to send thousands of airborne troops to the Gulf to give Trump more options to order a ground assault, sources have told Reuters, adding to two contingents of Marines already on their way. The first Marine unit, aboard a huge amphibious assault ship, could arrive around the end of the month.
Iran could open a new front at the mouth of the Red Sea if attacks are carried out on its territory, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency cited an unnamed military source as saying on Wednesday. The source said that Iran has the capability to pose a "credible threat" in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which lies between Yemen and Djibouti.
Iran's parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said his country would attack an unnamed neighboring country if it cooperated with efforts by "the enemies" to occupy one of its islands.
Since the start of what the US calls "Operation Epic Fury", Iran has attacked countries that host US bases and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday warned: The "world is staring down the barrel of a wider war" in the region.
"It is time to stop climbing the escalation ladder – and start climbing the diplomatic ladder," he said at the UN headquarters in New York.
More Strikes
The war has raged with no let-up in air attacks against Iran, or in Iranian drone and missile strikes against Israel and US allies.
An Israeli military official, asked whether Israel had adjusted its military plans since Trump said talks were under way, said it was "pretty much business as usual".
The Israeli military described several new waves of attacks against Iranian naval shipyards and other targets.
The semi-official Iranian SNN News Agency said a residential area was hit in Tehran, with rescuers searching the rubble.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had launched new attacks against Israel and US bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain.
