NEW:
Donald Trump said earlier Saturday that he was “not happy” with Iran’s latest proposal to resolve the conflict, but the details of the proposal were not immediately known, but would be released later in the day.
A senior Iranian official outlined the key points of the agreement put on the table by Iran:
– The war ends with a guarantee that Israel and the US will not attack again
– Iran opens the Strait of Hormuz
– USA lifts the blockade
– Future talks on Iran’s nuclear program will take place in exchange for the lifting of sanctions by the US
– Washington recognizes Iran’s right to enrich uranium for peacetime purposes, even if Iran agrees to suspend it
“Within this framework, negotiations on the more complex nuclear issue have been moved to the final stage to create a more favorable atmosphere,” the official told Reuters, according to Morning paper.
Washington has repeatedly said it will not end the war without an agreement preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
In 2018, Donald Trump withdrew the US from a landmark agreement designed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, which Barack Obama and Iran had agreed in 2015.
Under the deal, Iran agreed to reduce its uranium stockpile by 98 percent and keep its uranium enrichment level at 3.67 percent, well below the level of enrichment needed to produce a bomb.
The level of enriched uranium required to operate a nuclear power plant is between 0.7 and 5 percent, while nuclear weapons typically use 90 percent enriched uranium, according to the World Nuclear Association.
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EARLIER:
On Saturday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius described the announcement of the withdrawal of 5,000 American soldiers from Germany as expected, but said that it will not be of greater importance for Europe’s defense readiness.
“We in Europe must take more responsibility for our security. Germany is on the right track: the number of Bundeswehr soldiers is increasing and we are also working to improve supply chains and infrastructure,” said the German defense minister, reacting to the US announcement of the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany.
At the same time, he said that the presence of American soldiers in Germany is in the interest of “both Europeans and Americans”.
“We are working closely with the Americans in all their bases in Germany: for peace, security in Europe and Ukraine and for better deterrence,” Pisturius (Social Democratic Party of Germany SPD) told reporters.
He said that the decision to withdraw 5,000 soldiers did not come suddenly and pointed out that there are currently about 40,000 American soldiers in Germany.
In Germany, in addition to several land bases in the south of the country, in Ramstein there is also the most important air base of American military forces outside the USA, which is of crucial importance for activities in the Middle East.
The media associate the decision to withdraw troops, which US President Donald Trump also mentioned during his first term, with this week’s deterioration in relations between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Trump.
At the beginning of the week, Merz criticized the American military engagement in Iran in an unusually harsh tone and said that the Iranians “outsmarted” the Americans in the negotiations.
