Iran Rejects US Ceasefire Proposal As Military Tensions Escalate In Strait Of Hormuz

Iran has declined a proposed 48-hour ceasefire put forward by the United States, according to reports from the semi-official Fars news agency on Friday.

The proposal reportedly conveyed through a third-party nation described as ‘friendly’, arriving on Thursday.

Sources cited in the report indicated that Washington has increased diplomatic outreach in recent days, following an Iranian strike on a US military storage site located on Kuwait’s Bubiyan Island.

Fars suggested that the ceasefire initiative emerged after rising tensions created operational challenges for US forces, which were attributed to a misjudgement of Iran’s military strength.

Iran did not formally document its reply; instead, it demonstrated its stance through continued military operations.

In a further escalation, Iran’s military stated that its air defence units had brought down a US A-10 attack aircraft over southern waters near the Strait of Hormuz, with the wreckage falling into the Persian Gulf.

Earlier the same day, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported the downing of a US F-35 fighter jet within central Iranian airspace.

Mehr News Agency subsequently reported that Iranian forces also struck a US Black Hawk helicopter while it was conducting a search mission for the pilot of the downed aircraft.

Local authorities have urged civilians to help locate pilots they described as hostile.

Yadollah Rahmani, governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, called on residents in rural and tribal regions to cooperate with security forces.

The current hostilities follow joint strikes carried out on 28 February by Israel and the United States targeting Tehran and other Iranian cities.

Those attacks reportedly resulted in the death of Ali Khamenei, along with several senior officials and civilians.

Iran subsequently launched retaliatory missile and drone strikes against Israeli and US-linked targets across the region.

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