Iran makes new proposal for deal to end war, regional officials say

Iran stepped up attacks on the UAE this month after Trump announced a naval mission to try to open the strait of Hormuz, which he suspended after 48 hours.

Analysts say the conflict is now a stalemate, with both sides facing significant pressure to bring the war to an end but without sufficient incentives to make painful concessions necessary for a deal.

Trump, who faces midterm elections in November that could go badly for his Republican party, held talks with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, last week in Beijing without securing an indication from China that it would help resolve the conflict.

White House officials worry that Trump’s foreign policy gamble in Iran and its effect on US fuel prices may derail Republican chances of keeping control of Congress at a time when voters are more concerned with the cost of living than conflicts abroad.

Iran faces a deepening economic crisis and potential damage to its oil infrastructure. Inflation is soaring and some officials fear a surge in popular discontent with the radical regime.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a US-and Netherlands-based monitoring group, said it had documented at least 4,023 arrests in Iran between 28 February 28, when the war started, and 9 May. Charges included espionage, threats to national security and communicating or sharing content related to the conflict with foreign media, it said.

Ahmad Reza Radan, Iran’s national police chief, said on Sunday that more than “6,500 traitors and spies” linked with the “enemy” had been arrested since anti-government protests peaked in January. The authorities described those demonstrations as riots and put them down with a crackdown that left many thousands dead, according to rights groups.

Radan was quoted by the Irna news agency as saying: “The process of identifying and arresting elements associated with the enemy continues, and the police have not stopped their actions in the field of confronting rioters.”

There has been growing alarm over executions in Iran. Rights groups have said that since the start of the war, Iran has executed 26 men seen as “political prisoners” – 14 charged over January protests, one over 2022 demonstrations and 11 accused of links to banned opposition groups.

Six men have been hanged by Iran on charges of spying for Israel since the war began, according to reports in Iranian official media.

HRANA said it had documented at least 3,636 fatalities, including 1,701 civilians, due to US-Israeli attacks on Iran in the war.

Israel carried out new airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Monday, Lebanese security sources and the state news agency said, while Hezbollah announced new attacks on Israeli forces, continuing the war in Lebanon despite the extension of a US-backed truce first announced by Trump on 16 April.

A 45-day ceasefire extension announced after a third round of US-hosted talks between Lebanon and Israel on Friday began at midnight.

With Reuters and AFP