The US is threatening to “open hell” if Iran does not “understand that it has been defeated”. Trump's plan to end the war has been rejected, Tehran says, and is setting its own conditions - for example, that they be paid reparations.
The question of whether the US and Iran are negotiating to end the war still has no clear answer. The two sides have been at odds for several days now. What is known so far?
"Trump is ready to unleash hell"
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said Washington was "very close to achieving the main objectives of the military operation" in Iran. She reiterated that "productive talks" were being held with Iran, but stressed that if they were unsuccessful, more strikes could follow.
"If Iran does not accept the reality of the present moment, if it does not understand that it has been defeated militarily... Trump will make sure that it is hit harder than it has ever been," Levitt said at a briefing on Wednesday. "The president is not bluffing and he is ready to unleash hell," she said. "Iran must not make another mistake in its judgment."
Trump: "military operation", not war
However, Levitt again refused to answer the question of who the US is negotiating with on the Iranian side. In recent days, President Donald Trump has also refused to name specific representatives of the Iranian leadership with whom negotiations are being held, but said that they are "important people".
The American president said on Wednesday evening that the Iranians are simply "afraid" to admit that they are negotiating with the US because they are worried that they will be killed. He also said that the war in the Middle East is "a military operation". "They don't like the word "war" because that requires approval [from the US Congress]. So I'm going to call it a "military operation", which is exactly what it is," Trump said.
Iran wants reparations and guarantees that it won't be attacked again
A 15-point plan to end the war that the "New York Times" reported that the US had sent to Iran was rejected by the Iranian leadership yesterday. At the same time, the English-language program of Iranian state television reported that "Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its conditions are met.".
The conditions in question include a cessation of hostilities, guarantees that no more war will be launched against the Islamic Republic, the payment of reparations to Iran and recognition of the country's sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. A very important condition for Tehran is to stop attacks on its proxy groups - for example, Hezbollah in Lebanon, with which Israel is waging a war on a second front. Later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the country is not currently negotiating with the United States to end the war and "has no intention" of doing so.
American soldiers in Iran?
The US armed forces are preparing to deploy at least 1,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days. The British public media BBC reported that the Pentagon gave official confirmation of this on Wednesday. The unit is considered the army's emergency response force and can usually be deployed at short notice. This particular unit of the US Army has been part of all the country's major military operations - from World War II to Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
However, experts fear that sending ground troops to Iran could be a problem. Admiral James Stavridis, a former NATO supreme commander, warned of serious dangers in a commentary for "Bloomberg". Iran would likely respond with "massive attacks with drones, small boats - some of them loaded with explosives for unmanned and potentially suicidal missions" - and missiles against approaching ships, Stavridis wrote.