Alastair Crooke
Conflicts Forum / April 8, 2026
What was agreed by Iran on 7 April is not a ceasefire per se, but rather a brief cessation in military actions in order to provide the space in which to test whether meaningful political discussion with the US is possible or not.
The US however, has accepted Iran’s National Security Council’s 10-point framework as the agreed ‘anchor’ to possible discussions, due to begin in Islamabad on Friday —
“[Trump] said he had received a 10-point proposal from Iran which was a “workable basis on which to negotiate”“.
The 10-points, in effect, represent Iran’s pre-conditions to any move to a more substantive ceasefire.
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- Commitment to non-aggression
- Continuation of Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz
- Acceptance of uranium enrichment
- Lifting of all primary sanctions
- Lifting of all secondary sanctions
- Termination of all UN Security Council resolutions
- Termination of all Board of Governors resolutions
- Payment of compensation to Iran
- Withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from the region
- Cessation of war on all fronts, including against Hezbollah in Lebanon
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The Framework emanates not from fringe Iranian political figures talking with outside mediators, but from out of the core leadership in Iran. After considerable discussion within the Security Committee of Iran’s National Security Council (NSC), the Framework was finalised and proposed to the Supreme Leader. The latter discussed the text, amended some aspects, and gave it his imprimatur. The Framework is therefore a serious and grounded statement of Iran’s position.
Clearly, the present situation nonetheless remains very tentative. The contradictions between the 10-point plan and that of Witkoff’s 15 point exposition from the US side are stark — and possibly the tension between the two cannot hold.
Furthermore, the key counter-party to this tenuous framework — Israel — claims it was not consulted, and is furious at the US acquiescence to holding discussions based around the Iranian framework that it views as a strategic defeat for the US, and therefore for Israel too.
The 10th point in Iran’s Framework calls for the halting of military action on all fronts — including Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Yet Netanyahu now states that he will not observe this on the Lebanon front (where the war continued today with massive Israeli attacks across Beirut and south Lebanon).
Iran has already announced that it is preparing to launch “deterrent operations against Israeli military sites in the occupied territories” in wake of today’s attacks by Israel on Hizbullah:
“In Tehran, there is a prevailing belief that the continuation of the [Israeli] regime’s attacks on all fronts, despite the agreement, is evidence of either the United States’ inability to control Netanyahu or CENTCOM granting the Zionist entity freedom of action” (FARS News).
Today’s breach alone might be enough to collapse the Framework, were Israel to not commit to the terms, and instead use the Lebanon card to surreptitiously sabotage the Framework.
Alastair Crooke is a former British diplomat, founder and director of the Beirut-based Conflicts Forum
