IRANIAN television’s Press TV quoted an anonymous official today as saying Iran rejected a 15-point US ceasefire proposal.

“Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met,” Press TV quoted the official as saying.

Earlier, two officials from Pakistan described the 15-point US proposal broadly, saying it addressed sanctions relief, a rollback of Iran’s nuclear programme, limits on missiles and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped.

An Egyptian official involved in the mediation said the scheme also includes restrictions on Iran’s support for armed groups.

Press TV offered its own five-point plan from the official who rejected the US proposal.

It included a halt to killings of its officials, means to make sure no other war is waged against it, reparations for the war, the end of hostilities and Iran’s “exercise of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iran remains highly suspicious of the US, which twice under the Trump administration has attacked during high-level diplomatic talks, including with the February 28 attack.

“We have a very catastrophic experience with US diplomacy,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told India Today on Tuesday.

The news of potential negotiations drove down the price of oil.

Brent crude oil, the international standard, was trading below $100 (£75) today, still up about 35 per cent from the start of the war.

Economists have warned of far-reaching effects if energy prices remain high, including rising food prices and higher mortgage rates.

A big driver of the spike in the oil price has been Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has made it clear that the Strait is open for all but the US, Israel and their allies.

The US continued to move around 1000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East.

The Pentagon is also in the process of deploying two Marine units that will add about 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the region.

Meanwhile, Iran has continued to exchange fire with Israel and the Persian Gulf region, including an assault that sparked a fire at Kuwait International airport.

Missile alert sirens began early in the morning in Israel, a daily occurrence since Israel and the US launched their attack on Iran.

The Israeli military announced it had begun new wide-scale attacks early Wednesday on Iran targeting government infrastructure, and witnesses reported air strikes in the north-western city of Qazvin.