Pakistan has conveyed US proposal; Turkey or Pakistan could host talks, senior Iranian official says

DUBAI/TEL AVIV, March 25 (Reuters) – Pakistan has delivered a proposal from the United States to Iran, and either Pakistan or Turkey could be venues for discussions to de-escalate the war in the Gulf, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on ​Wednesday.

The comments, by an official speaking on condition of anonymity, were among the few signs that Tehran was willing to consider diplomatic proposals, despite having denied in public that it would negotiate ‌with the administration of President Donald Trump.

The Iranian source did not disclose details of the proposal passed on by Pakistan, or whether it was the same as a 15-point U.S. proposal that has been reported by news outlets including Reuters. The source said Turkey had also “helped to end the war and either Turkey or Pakistan was under consideration as the venue for such talks”.

Oil prices fell and battered shares recovered on Wednesday after reports that the U.S. had sent the 15-point plan to Iran, with investors hoping for an end to nearly ​four weeks of war that has killed thousands and disrupted global energy supplies.

A source familiar with the matter had confirmed on Tuesday to Reuters that the plan had been sent to Iran.

Three Israeli cabinet sources ​said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet had been briefed on the proposal, which they said includes removing Iran’s stocks of highly enriched uranium, halting enrichment, curbing its ballistic ⁠missile programme and ending funding for regional allies.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is 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 Expeditionary Unit aboard a huge amphibious assault ship could arrive around the end of the month.