Iran Digs In: No Compromise on Security as Peace Plan Waits on Washington

Iran is not blinking. Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of the country's Supreme National Security Council, said Monday that Tehran will make no compromises on its national security, sovereignty or territorial integrity, according to Breaking The News. He made the remarks to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB while on a diplomatic trip to Beijing. His warning: war against a civilization cannot end in victory, and such a fight would rattle the global economy.

That hard line landed the same day Iran's Foreign Ministry dangled a way out. Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran's seven-step peace plan for the conflict with the United States could be rolled out within two days if Washington agrees to it. If the US signs on, Baghaei said security would return to the Strait of Hormuz and negotiations would begin. The call, he insisted, sits with Washington — and the Strait stays shut unless the US lifts its naval blockade.

Baghaei didn't stop at the peace plan. He said Iran will not hand over its enriched uranium, will keep abiding by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and called the United States the greatest threat to that treaty, per Breaking The News. He also slammed the Trump administration's aggressive rhetoric on Iran's nuclear program, warning it risks collapsing stability and endangering collective peace and security. Threats, he argued, only harden Iran at home.

Moscow is watching with alarm. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Monday that signals pointing to fresh military action against Iran are extremely concerning, describing the situation as complex and unresolved. She framed Iran as the target of unprovoked aggression by the US and Israel, and said the conflict is tangled up with other crises across the Middle East.

Beijing is sending its own envoy into the mix. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Special Envoy on the Middle East Issue Zhai Jun will tour Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia in early to mid-November, aiming to push de-escalation and negotiations and, in her words, play a constructive role in safeguarding regional peace and stability. Zhai's last regional swing came in March, after the US and Israeli military operation against Iran kicked off on February 28.

So the board is crowded: Iran holding firm in Beijing, a two-day peace plan parked on Washington's desk, Russia warning against new strikes, and China's envoy packing his bags. The next move — and the Strait of Hormuz — hinges on whether the US answers Tehran's proposal or ignores it.