Iran has put forward a new proposal to the US aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and bringing the war to an end, putting one of its most contentious issues — its nuclear programme — to bed temporarily, according to officials familiar with the talks.
The plan, passed via Pakistani and regional mediators, envisions an extended ceasefire or a permanent end to hostilities in exchange for reopening the critical shipping lane and easing the US naval blockade, reports Axios.
Discussions over uranium enrichment and Iran’s stockpile would be deferred, and would be spoken of in a later meeting.
Caught in a diplomatic stalemate with Iran, lifting the blockade and ending the war would rid US President Trump of all leverage in any future talks to remove Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and convince Tehran to suspend enrichment — two primary war objectives for Trump.
He is expected to hold a Situation Room meeting on Iran on Monday in the White House, with his top national security and foreign policy team, according to three US officials.
Trump signalled in an earlier interview with Fox News on Sunday that he wants to continue the naval blockade that is choking off Iran’s oil exports, hoping it will get Tehran to cave over the next few weeks.
“When you have vast amounts of oil pouring through your system … if for any reason this line is closed because you can’t put it into containers or ships … what happens is that line explodes from within. … They say they only have about three days before that happens,” Trump said.
The diplomatic crisis between Tehran and Washington has only further intensified, following the failure of the planned Islamabad meeting between US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to ever materialise, with Trump cancelling the trip and saying there was little point in sending a delegation under current conditions.
On Sunday, Araghchi held talks with Omani officials in Muscat that focused on the Strait of Hormuz, then went back to Islamabad for a second round of talks.
On Monday, Araghchi was expected to travel to Moscow and meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Araghchi has instead been moving between regional capitals. After talks in Muscat focused on maritime tensions, he returned briefly to Islamabad before heading on to Moscow for meetings with President Vladimir Putin.
Officials say it was during those Islamabad discussions that the idea of sidelining the nuclear issue was first raised in detail. Mediators from Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar were told that internal divisions in Tehran were complicating any immediate agreement on enrichment limits or the removal of highly enriched uranium.
The White House has received the proposal, but it’s unclear whether it is willing to explore it.
“These are sensitive diplomatic discussions and the US will not negotiate through the press. As the president has said, the United States holds the cards and will only make a deal that puts the American people first, never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told Axios.
