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Explainer: After nine straight nights of strikes, where is the US-Iran conflict headed?

The US carried out a ninth consecutive night of military strikes against Iran early on Monday, targeting command centres, missile facilities, air defence systems, maritime assets and communications infrastructure. The latest developments indicate the conflict is expanding beyond direct military exchanges, with growing implications for regional security, global energy supplies and international shipping. Here is what to know. Why are the US strikes continuing? President Donald Trump said US forces had struck Iran “very hard,” describing the operations as retaliation for the deaths of US service members in the Middle East. The latest casualty on the US side came in northern Iraq, where a service member was killed during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance recovered from a downed Iranian drone. According to American media, at least 17 US soldiers have been killed since Feb 28, when the US and Israel attacked Iran. Strait of Hormuz at the heart of the co...
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What does each side in the Iran war say it would accept for a deal?

The United States, Israel and Iran have laid out maximalist positions to end warfare that has set the Middle East aflame and threatened the global economy by choking off Gulf energy supplies. This is what the sides are saying about their positions in the conflict in which the US and Israel have launched airstrikes on Iran since February 28 and Iran has carried out strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states. What are the Americans saying? US President Donald Trump has passed a 15-point plan to Iran via Pakistan. It has not been published and the US administration has declined to disclose specifics of the plan. It has said that some media reports on what is in it are incorrect, without elaborating. Three Israeli cabinet sources have said the plan includes: The removal of Iran's stocks of highly enriched uranium An end to Iran's uranium enrichment programme Curbs to Iran's ballistic missile programme An end to Iran's support for regional allies such as Lebanon's Hezbollah The US will hit Iran "harder than they have ever been hit before" if Tehran fails to accept the proposal, the White House said on Wednesday. Read More: Trump to hit Iran harder if Tehran does not accept defeat: White House Washington is expected to send thousands more soldiers to the Middle East, two people familiar with the matter have told Reuters. What is the Iranian position? A senior Iranian official has told Reuters that Iran's response to the US proposals on ending the war has not been "positive", but that Tehran is still reviewing it. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Tehran was not negotiating with the US, although messages were being exchanged through intermediaries. He said Iran demanded a permanent end to the war and compensation for destruction. Iran demands sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz as its "natural, legal right", Iran's Press TV cited an official as saying on Wednesday. Tehran has told intermediaries that Israel's war in Lebanon must be included in any ceasefire agreement, six regional sources familiar with Tehran's position have told Reuters. Without a ceasefire, Iran has also pointed to its own ability to escalate, saying it could take action to choke off another major sea route, the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, which offers an alternative export route for some Gulf oil. It also said it had intelligence that the US planned to occupy an Iranian island with support from a regional country, and that if it did so, it would attack vital infrastructure in that country, without naming it. What are the Israelis saying? A senior Israeli defence official said Israel was sceptical Iran would agree to the US terms, but was also concerned that Trump might make concessions. Israel wants any agreement to preserve its option to conduct pre-emptive strikes, a second source said. Israel's military spokesperson said on Thursday that the mission at the moment was to continue to destroy Iran's military capabilities and that Israel has "many more targets left".

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