Key facts
- Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran's two-day proposal is the most reasonable offer on the table.
- Baghaei said Iran wants US sanctions and a naval blockade lifted before talks start and the war ended on all fronts.
- The two-day offer shortens an earlier Iranian proposal of seven days with the same conditions.
- Baghaei said US pressure on Iraq to close most of its borders with Iran should not affect ties with Baghdad.
- He dismissed a US military task force restricting Iran's land trade as a diversion after Republican midterm losses.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei defended on November 9, 2026 a proposal to restart peace talks in as few as two days, calling it the most reasonable offer on the table after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described some of Iran's conditions as "outrageous and ridiculous", Reuters reported.
"Is it unreasonable that Iran demands that US illegal sanctions and its naval blockade must be lifted before negotiations start and that the war should end on all fronts?" Baghaei told a weekly press conference in Dubai, according to the report.
The two-day proposal shortens an earlier Iranian offer of seven days, which called for Washington to first meet conditions including halting hostilities, lifting a blockade and waiving sanctions.
Baghaei also said US pressure on Iraq to close most of its borders with Iran should not affect bilateral ties with Baghdad, after Iraq's foreign minister said Washington was pushing for such a move. He dismissed a US military task force aimed at restricting Iran's land trade as a diversion following losses by President Donald Trump's Republicans in midterm elections.