Iran Sets Three Conditions to End War as Trump Vows to Continue Military Operations

As the US-Israel military campaign against Iran and Tehran's retaliatory strikes enter their third week, Iran has formally laid out three conditions for ending the conflict — recognition of its rights, payment of reparations, and binding international guarantees against future aggression — even as US President Donald Trump declared at a campaign-style rally in Kentucky that Washington intends to press on with military operations and has gained the upper hand.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran remains committed to peace but made clear that any resolution must be on Iran's terms. The three conditions — international recognition of Iran's sovereign rights, compensation for damage inflicted by US and Israeli strikes, and firm security guarantees against future military action — set a high bar for negotiations. Pezeshkian framed the conflict as one triggered entirely by US and Israeli aggression, and said the war would end only when Iran receives credible and binding international assurances of its security.

The conditions are likely to be rejected outright by Washington and Tel Aviv in their current form, deepening the prospect of a prolonged conflict with no immediate diplomatic off-ramp in sight.

Speaking at a rally in Kentucky ahead of November's midterm elections, Trump adopted a starkly different posture — projecting confidence and showing no appetite for the kind of concessions Iran is demanding. He claimed the United States has gained a decisive upper hand in the conflict and signalled that military operations will continue until Washington's objectives are met. The rally setting underscored Trump's calculation that the war plays well domestically as a show of American strength.

Now approaching its third week, the conflict has produced heavy casualties across the region, severely disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and driven global oil prices sharply higher on fears of sustained supply disruptions. With Iran holding firm on its conditions and the US showing no sign of pulling back, the prospect of a near-term ceasefire appears increasingly remote — leaving global energy markets, regional neighbours, and the more than one crore Indians living and working in the Gulf in a deepening state of uncertainty.