Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
The United States and Iran have stopped fighting for several days now. Before this, they were fighting almost every night for two weeks.
President Trump says the US and Iran are talking. He calls the talks 'very friendly.'
But an Iranian leader named Kazem Gharibabadi says this is not true. He says Iran did not ask for the talks. He also says Iran said no to a US plan about a sea passage called the Strait of Hormuz.
Another Iranian leader, Esmaeil Baghaei, says Iran will never let the US decide when there is war and when there is peace. Right now, very few ships are using the Strait of Hormuz.
- fighting
- using weapons or force against another side
- president
- the leader of a country, especially the United States
- talks
- meetings where people discuss a problem
- leader
- a person who is in charge of a group or country
- plan
- an idea for what to do
- passage
- a narrow path, often through water
- decide
- to choose what will happen
- peace
- a time with no fighting or war
Level 2 — Elementary
The pause in US strikes on Iran has now lasted for several days, after nearly two weeks of near-nightly bombing that began in the summer.
President Trump has said there are 'very friendly negotiations' happening between the two sides, and claimed that Tehran wanted a meeting because the US airstrikes had put heavy pressure on Iran.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi pushed back strongly, saying the Iranian delegation never pleaded for talks. He also revealed that Iran rejected a US proposal that would have kept a 'southern route' through the Strait of Hormuz open while separate Iran-Oman talks continued.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei added that Iran will 'never allow the United States to determine the timing of war and peace.' Meanwhile, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains far below normal, with fewer than 10 commercial ships passing through, compared with around 100 on a typical day before the war.
- pause
- a temporary stop in an activity
- negotiations
- formal discussions aimed at reaching an agreement
- delegation
- a group of people sent to represent others in talks
- pleaded
- asked for something in an urgent or emotional way
- proposal
- a suggested plan put forward for discussion
- route
- a path or way used to travel from one place to another
- determine
- to officially decide something
- commercial
- related to buying, selling, or business
Level 3 — Intermediate
The fragile pause in the US bombing campaign against Iran has now held for several consecutive days, following nearly two weeks of near-nightly strikes that battered Iranian military and energy infrastructure.
President Trump described 'very friendly negotiations' unfolding between the two sides and asserted that Tehran had effectively been forced back to the table because sustained American airstrikes had inflicted serious damage. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi flatly contradicted this account, insisting the Iranian delegation had made no pleas whatsoever to continue talks.
Gharibabadi went further, disclosing that Iran had rejected a US proposal insisting a 'southern route' through the Strait of Hormuz remain open while a separate track of Iran-Oman negotiations played out, calling such a proposal unacceptable. Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei reinforced the defiant tone, declaring that Iran 'will never allow the United States to determine the timing of war and peace.'
The dispute underscores how far normalcy remains from returning to the region's most vital oil chokepoint: traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil typically flows, remains a fraction of pre-war levels, with fewer than 10 commercial vessels transiting on a recent morning compared with around 100 on an average day before the conflict began.
- fragile
- easily broken or disrupted; delicate
- infrastructure
- the basic physical systems a country relies on, such as energy and transport
- asserted
- stated something confidently as true
- contradicted
- denied or stated the opposite of something said before
- disclosing
- making previously private information known
- defiant
- openly resisting authority or a demand
- chokepoint
- a narrow, strategically important passage that can be blocked or controlled
- transiting
- passing through a place on the way to another destination
Level 4 — Advanced
The tenuous pause in the US bombing campaign against Iran has now persisted for several consecutive days, following nearly a fortnight of near-nightly strikes that inflicted substantial damage on Iranian military and energy infrastructure and, in turn, rattled global oil markets.
President Trump characterized the current state of affairs as 'very friendly negotiations' and maintained that Tehran had effectively been compelled back to the negotiating table by the cumulative toll of sustained American airstrikes. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi flatly repudiated that framing, insisting the Iranian delegation had issued no entreaties whatsoever to resume talks.
Gharibabadi further disclosed that Iran had rebuffed a US proposal stipulating that a 'southern route' through the Strait of Hormuz remain open pending the conclusion of a separate Iran-Oman negotiating track, characterizing the demand as categorically unacceptable. Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei amplified this defiance, declaring unequivocally that Iran 'will never allow the United States to determine the timing of war and peace.'
The impasse illustrates how far the region remains from a return to normalcy at its most consequential maritime chokepoint: transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for roughly a fifth of global oil flows, remains a mere fraction of its pre-war volume, with fewer than 10 commercial vessels recorded passing through on a recent morning against approximately 100 on an average day before hostilities erupted.
- tenuous
- weak, easily broken, or lacking a firm basis
- fortnight
- a period of two weeks
- compelled
- forced or driven to do something
- repudiated
- rejected or refused to accept as valid
- entreaties
- earnest or urgent requests
- rebuffed
- rejected an offer or suggestion in a blunt or unfriendly way
- categorically
- in a way that is absolute and unqualified
- impasse
- a situation in which no progress is possible; a deadlock
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