Iran passed its delayed response to the U.S. peace proposals to Pakistani mediators in Karachi on May 10. However, with the talks stalled, the International Maritime Organisation IMO, is looking for new ways to rescue the stranded seafarers and their ships, and the French and British navies are making their own moves into the region.

The Iranian response was effectively a complete rejection of the American proposals and a statement of Iran’s maximalist war demands. Donald Trump described the Iranian response as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.”

The Iranian counter-proposal demanded:

•    An immediate and permanent U.S. ceasefire “on all fronts,” but also demanded a cessation of Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, with a guarantee of future non-aggression.

•    Acknowledgement of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, and the acceptance of IRGC Navy coordination, in contravention of the IMO’s Traffic Separation Scheme established in 1968, to which all nations that are signatories to the IMO’s Convention on Safety of Life and Sea are obliged under international law to observe.

•    The lifting of all sanctions on Iran, including the removal of the U.S. naval blockade and the ban on Iranian oil sales.

•    A five-year, rather than the proposed 20-year moratorium on nuclear enrichment, and the reduction in the existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium by storage in a third country and in-country dilution.  Rejection of demands to dismantle nuclear facilities.

The counter-proposal appears to have left demands for the reduction of Iranian Resistance of Axis activities and regional expansionism out of scope, along with any curbs on Iran’s ballistic missile and drone capabilities. As to be expected, there was no mention of any measures to liberalize the IRGC’s draconian domestic suppression campaign.

The Iranian response leaves very little leeway for American negotiators to respond with a counteroffer, and it is unclear how the U.S. administration intends to proceed on the diplomatic front, putting aside Trump’s unspecific threat on social media that “Iran would be laughing no longer.”

While it is unclear how the Pakistani-sponsored negotiations will now proceed, Arsenio Dominguez, the IMO Secretary General, held talks with the Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi in Muscat on May 11. After the talks, the Omani Foreign Ministry posted about the importance of adherence to International law, respect for the sovereignty of territorial waters, and the urgent need to advance a humanitarian initiative to free ships in the Gulf, in safety and in cooperation with the littoral states.