WASHINGTON — As the Pentagon prepares to deploy at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, Iran is dismissing American ceasefire efforts — declaring Wednesday that the U.S. was negotiating with itself.
"Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?" said Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military's Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, in a prerecorded video aired on state television.
The 82nd Airborne deployment — according to three people with knowledge of the move who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans — is the latest addition of American forces to the region. The Pentagon is also deploying two Marine units that will add about 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors, supplementing some 50,000 troops already in the Middle East. The 82nd Airborne is considered the Army's emergency response force and can typically be deployed on short notice, while its soldiers are trained to parachute into hostile or contested territory to secure key areas and airfields.
The Marine deployment has raised speculation that the U.S. may try to seize Kharg Island, which is vital to Iran's oil network. The U.S. bombed the Persian Gulf island more than a week ago, hitting its defenses but leaving oil infrastructure intact. Iran has threatened to mine the gulf if the U.S. appears to be on the verge of landing troops.
The troop buildup comes as the Trump administration submitted a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran through Pakistani intermediaries, according to a person briefed on the plan who was not authorized to speak publicly. The New York Times was first to report the plan had been delivered to Iranian officials. The moves are being framed as Trump maneuvering to give himself "max flexibility" on what he will do next.
Zolfaghari was dismissive of the ceasefire effort.
"The strategic power you used to talk about has turned into a strategic failure," he said. "Don't dress up your defeat as an agreement. Your era of empty promises has come to an end."
He added: "Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you. Not now, not ever."
Pakistan has offered to host renewed negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X that Pakistan is ready to "facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks" to end the war. The U.S. has agreed in principle to join talks in Pakistan, according to three Pakistani officials, one Egyptian official and a Gulf diplomat, while mediators were still working to convince Iran. One diplomat said the talks could happen by early next week, with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner expected to represent the U.S.
But any talks face monumental challenges. Many of Washington's objectives — particularly over Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programs — remain difficult to achieve. Iran remains highly suspicious of the United States, which twice under the Trump administration has attacked during high-level diplomatic talks, including the Feb. 28 strikes that started the current war. It is also not clear who in Iran's government has the authority or willingness to negotiate, as Israel has vowed to continue killing the country's leaders.
The U.S. and Iran issued conflicting statements Tuesday on the status of talks. Speaking at the White House, Trump said the U.S. is "in negotiations right now," naming Witkoff, Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance as participants.
"The other side, I can tell you, they'd like to make a deal," Trump said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's office said he has been discussing the war with several counterparts, but Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, denied Trump's claim of direct talks. An Iranian military spokesperson declared the fighting would continue.
"Iran's powerful armed forces are proud, victorious and steadfast in defending Iran's integrity, and this path will continue until complete victory," Iranian state television quoted Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi as saying Tuesday.
Israeli officials, who have been advocating for Trump to continue the war against Iran, were surprised by the submission of a ceasefire plan, according to the person briefed on the proposal.
On the ground, the fighting raged on. Israel said it carried out extensive strikes on Iranian production sites. In Tehran, massive blasts were heard in northern neighborhoods and the city center. Iran fired at least a dozen waves of missiles at Israel, wounding three people in southern Israel and four others in Tel Aviv.
Israel also pounded Beirut's southern suburbs, targeting infrastructure used by the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group. A strike on a residential apartment southeast of the Lebanese capital killed at least three people, including a 3-year-old girl, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. A woman was killed in northern Israel by shrapnel during an attack from Lebanon.
A Moroccan civilian contractor with the United Arab Emirates' armed forces was killed in Bahrain in an Iranian attack. In Kuwait, power lines were hit by air defense shrapnel, causing partial electricity outages. Saudi Arabia said it destroyed Iranian drones targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province.
Lebanon declared Iran's ambassador persona non grata and ordered him to leave by Sunday, accusing Iran of dragging the country into another war with Israel.
Talk of negotiations briefly drove down oil prices and boosted stocks, but the respite was short-lived. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, nudged back over $100 a barrel Tuesday — up nearly 40% since the war started.
Trump said he would hold off on a threat to bomb Iran's power stations while talks unfold and also delayed his self-imposed deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, whose chokehold has snarled international shipping, sent fuel prices skyrocketing and threatened the world economy.