Iran has received a 15-point plan from the United States to end the Middle East war, Pakistani officials said Wednesday, raising hopes for a diplomatic solution even as Iran said it has fired a volley of cruise missiles at a US aircraft carrier.

A conflict that began on February 28 with a US-Israeli bombing campaign on Iran has rapidly engulfed the entire region, sending oil prices skyrocketing and threatening to derail the global economy.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed progress in talks with Iran in recent days, even though Tehran has denied any negotiations were taking place.

But fledgling diplomatic activity appeared to be gaining momentum after two senior officials in Islamabad said that American proposals to stop the fighting had been “conveyed to Iran” through Pakistani intermediaries.

Pakistan is being touted as a possible mediator given its longstanding ties with both neighbouring Iran and the United States, as well as close contacts in the region.

Even so, there was no let-up in the military activity, with targets in Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia all coming under fire.

Iran’s military said its cruise missiles fired at the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group had “forced it to change its position”, warning of “powerful strikes” when the “hostile fleet” comes into range.

US ally Israel, meanwhile, said it had struck targets in Tehran as well as a submarine development facility in the central city of Isfahan.

From the Iranian capital, 40-year-old Shayan said: “There is gasoline, water and electricity. But there is a sense of helplessness in all of us. We don’t know what to do, and there’s really nothing we can do.”

On another front, Israeli warplanes pounded the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Lebanon was pulled into the war when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to Lebanese authorities, more than 1,000 people have been killed in over three weeks of Israeli strikes and upwards of one million people displaced.

In the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, almost cut off from the rest of the country by bombs, Khalil, a man in his 30s, voiced his defiance.

“They’ll have to take us by force,” he said.

Despite Israeli ground operations and the spectre of a full-blown invasion, “we don’t want to leave our land… our heart is here”, said Khalil, sheltering with his young family in a theatre.

Diplomatically, the two sides offered conflicting accounts, even though mediators in the region said work was ongoing behind the scenes to relay messages.

“There is hope but it’s too early to be optimistic,” said a diplomatic source in the region, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.

Both sides need to be able to climb down without losing face, the source noted.

In public, Iran kept up its belligerent rhetoric, with the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warning the US: “Do not test our resolve to defend our land.

According to Israel’s Channel 12, Trump’s proposals include a ceasefire during which the sides would discuss a 15-point agreement that would include a ban on Iran enriching uranium on its soil and the reopening of the vital Strait of Hormuz oil route.

Iran in turn would see sanctions relief, according to the report. The Trump administration similarly offered a 15-point plan before a shorter Israeli and US bombing campaign against Iran in June.

Iran had agreed in 2015 to broad restraints on its contested nuclear program in a deal that Trump ripped up during his first term as he joined Israel in applying pressure to the cleric-run state.

Stocks rose and oil prices tumbled on signs of a possible de-escalation, but focus remained on the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that Iran had given him “a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money”, which he said demonstrated that “we’re dealing with the right people”.

The US president did not elaborate further but said it was related to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has largely blockaded in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes.

Tehran, in a message circulated by the International Maritime Organisation, assured safe passage through the strait to “non-hostile vessels”.

However, the IMO also cited a statement from Iran’s foreign ministry as saying no passage would be granted to vessels belonging to “the aggressor parties — namely the United States and the Israeli regime”.

On a visit to Tokyo, the head of the International Energy Agency said he was ready to approve the release of more oil reserves if needed to cushion the war’s impact on global supplies.

But the effects are already visible around the world, with Sri Lanka ordering an extra day off work to conserve energy and the price of diesel doubling in Vietnam.

Hanoi resident Nguyen Van Chi said on Wednesday he had not driven his truck in the past two weeks, instead opting to cycle.

“With this unbelievable price of diesel, I cannot even sell my truck as no one is going to use it,” the 54-year-old businessman said.

Slavery was the “most horrendous crime that took place in the history of mankind”, Ghana’s foreign minister said ahead of a landmark vote at the UN General Assembly.

Member states are set to vote on a resolution led by Ghana to recognise the transatlantic slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity”.

The proposal urges UN member states to consider apologising for the slave trade and contributing to a reparations fund.

The resolution is likely to face resistance, as states like the UK have long rejected paying reparations, saying today’s institutions cannot be held responsible for past wrongs.

But the proposal’s advocates, which include the African Union, said it is a step towards healing and justice.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana’s foreign minister, said: “We are demanding compensation and let us be clear, African leaders are not asking for money for themselves.

“We want justice for the victims and causes to be supported, educational and endowment funds, skills training funds.”

Ablakwa also said that, with the resolution, Ghana was not ranking its pain above anyone else’s, but simply documenting a historical fact.

Between 1500 and 1800, around 12-15 million people were captured in Africa and taken to the Americas where they were forced to work as slaves. It is estimated that over two million people died on the journey.

Ablakwa said that the “structures” and “inequalities” created by slavery still persist.

“Many generations continue to suffer the exclusion, the racism because of the transatlantic slave trade which has left millions separated from the continent and impoverished,” he said.

Ghana, one of the main gateways for the trade, has long been a leading advocate for reparations.

Forts, where tens of thousands of enslaved Africans were once held under inhuman conditions, remain standing along the West African country’s coast.

The resolution also calls for cultural artefacts stolen during the colonial era to be returned to their countries of origin.

“We want a return of all those looted artefacts, which represent our heritage, our culture and our spiritual significance. All those artefacts looted for many centuries into the colonial era ought to be returned,” Ablakwa said.

Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has called the resolution “historic” and S“safeguard against forgetting”.

Tragedy struck in Ridawa village in Ghari Local Government Area of Kano State when an unspecified number of brick workers were reportedly buried after a pit collapsed in the village.

The incident was said to have occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, while the victims were engaged in digging earth for brick-making.

It was gathered that the victims were inside the pit when it suddenly caved in, trapping many of them underground.

There are growing fears that several of the trapped workers may have died, while others sustained varying degrees of injuries in the collapsed pit.

According to reports from the area, rescue efforts have since commenced, as locals and emergency responders struggled to reach those still buried beneath the rubble.

As of the time of filing this report, some of the victims had yet to be rescued, raising concerns over their chances of survival.

The member representing Ghari/ Tsanyawa Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Sani Bala, confirmed the incident, saying about 10 persons were believed to be trapped underground.

He called for the government’s urgent intervention in rescuing the victims and preventing further loss of lives.

However, when contacted, the Public Relations Officer of Kano State Fire Service, Saminu Abdullahi, said the service has yet to receive a report on the incident.

“We have not received any report on the incident. The Ghari office has not received a report on the incident, adding that as soon as we get details on the incident, we shall let you know,” Abdullahi said.