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# Iran says new ceasefire proposal to Washington seeks troop withdrawals, sanctions relief and compensation
On 2026-05-19, Iranian officials said a fresh proposal sent to the United States calls for an end to fighting on multiple regional fronts, a withdrawal of American forces from areas near Iran and compensation for destruction caused by the war.
The packet’s VOV report says Tehran publicly disclosed the core terms of the new proposal for the first time. According to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, the package also asks Washington to lift sanctions, release frozen Iranian assets abroad and end maritime blockades targeting Iran. The proposal is not limited to the immediate US-Iran channel; it also links any settlement to conflicts across the region, including Lebanon.
That combination shows Iran is trying to define the end state of the conflict in broad strategic terms. Rather than focusing only on a pause in hostilities, Tehran is demanding changes to the military, economic and diplomatic pressures surrounding it. The packet indicates that the proposal was transmitted via Pakistan, which has been acting as an intermediary between the United States and Iran.
The report also suggests that the talks remain difficult. A Pakistani source told VOV that both sides keep changing their negotiating demands, and that time is running out. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said the Pakistan-mediated discussions would require more time. Those remarks imply that, while channels are open, they are not close to producing a mutually acceptable settlement.
The wider backdrop is a war that continues to shape every negotiating position. VOV said Trump had postponed a planned military attack on Iran at the request of Gulf states, on the grounds that serious negotiations were underway. The same report said Iranian media described Washington’s answer to an earlier five-point Iranian proposal as unacceptable, especially because it did not guarantee an end to attacks on Iran. Taken together, those details show why each side still mistrusts the other’s intentions.
The proposal also carries a symbolic element. By publicly naming compensation, sanctions relief and an end to maritime blockades, Iran is signaling that any ceasefire must be paired with tangible concessions, not just promises of future diplomacy. The demand for the withdrawal of US forces from nearby areas reinforces that point. Tehran appears to be arguing that a ceasefire without shifts in regional posture would not be enough to secure lasting security.
At the same time, the evidence does not show a breakthrough. The packet does not present any US acceptance of the Iranian package, and the discussion of recent rejected demands suggests the gap remains substantial. This is still a bargaining process, not a deal.
For readers, the main development is that Iran has now put its position on the record in a more explicit way. That matters because negotiators often use ambiguity to keep talks alive. Here, Tehran is doing the opposite: setting out a maximal list of conditions that define what it thinks the conflict should end to look like.
Whether the United States treats that as a basis for discussion or as a nonstarter will determine the next phase. For now, the clearest fact is that diplomacy remains active, but the terms remain deeply contested.
