Iran's five-point counter-proposal — delivered by Foreign Minister Araghchi on Tuesday — remains unanswered by Washington as of Friday evening. The State Department has not issued a formal response. The National Security Council has not commented. The White House, when asked about the counter-proposal during Friday's briefing, referred reporters to the deadline extension announcement. [1]

The counter-proposal demands: halt all aggression, pay reparations, recognize Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, end Israeli operations in Lebanon, and provide binding no-repeat guarantees. The terms were designed to be unacceptable. Washington's response — silence plus a deadline extension — treats the proposal as unworthy of engagement. Whether that silence is strategy or absence of strategy is the open question.

-- YOSEF STERN, Jerusalem