Tehran’s offer calls for extending the ceasefire for a longer period or for both sides to agree on an end to the war. Photo: Reuters
Axios: Iran offers US deal to open Strait of Hormuz and postpone nuclear talks
Iran has submitted a new proposal to the United States that envisages reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war, while negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program would be postponed to a later date, the American media Axios reports today, citing an American official and two sources familiar with the matter.
Tehran’s offer calls for extending the ceasefire for a longer period or for both sides to agree on an end to the war. Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program would begin later when the Strait of Hormuz is reopened and the blockade imposed by Washington on all vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports is lifted, Axios reports.
As an unnamed American official told this media outlet, US President Donald Trump intends today with his team to review the current deadlock in negotiations with Iran and the possible next steps, Axios reports are summarized by foreign news agencies.
Diplomacy is at an impasse, and Iran’s leadership is divided over where to make concessions to the US on its nuclear program. Iran’s proposal would bypass this issue and allow for a faster deal.
However, according to Axios, lifting the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war would take away Trump’s leverage in any future negotiations to remove Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and to persuade Tehran to stop enriching uranium, both of Trump’s main goals in the war against Iran. Iran, on the other hand, does not want to include the dispute over the nuclear program in negotiations to end the war.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump hinted that he wants to continue the naval blockade that is choking Iran’s oil exports in the hope that it will force Tehran to make concessions in the coming weeks.
A ceasefire is currently in effect between the United States and Iran, and the two sides met on April 11 for the first round of negotiations. After reports that the second round of negotiations could take place in Islamabad last weekend, Trump on Saturday canceled the trip of negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, saying that the trip was too long and that Iran could call them at any time.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi returned to Islamabad on Sunday, where he is expected to hand over Iran’s terms of the deal to Pakistan, which mediates between the two sides. Today, Aragči is visiting Moscow, where he is also expected to present the state of negotiations.
