Iran said on Wednesday it is considering a U.S. peace proposal that sources say would formally end the war, while leaving key U.S. demands to halt Iran’s nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz unresolved.
Iran’s ISNA news agency reported that an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday that the Iranian government would communicate its response. US President Donald Trump has said he believes Iran wants a deal.
“They want a deal. We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours and there’s a very good chance we’ll get a deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
The day before, President Trump suspended Project Freedom, an initiative to reopen the blocked strait, citing progress in peace negotiations. A virtual blockade of the waterway could trigger a global recession. Iran is pushing to take control of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies pass.
Here, we detail the US proposal to end the war and how experts think Iran will respond.
What is the US’s latest proposal to end the Iran war?
US media Axios reported that the two countries are “close” to reaching an agreement on a 14-point document. Under the memorandum, Iran announced that it would agree not to develop nuclear weapons and stop enriching uranium for at least 12 years.
The United States will lift sanctions and unfreeze billions of dollars in Iranian assets, and the two countries, which have imposed competing blockades on the Strait of Hormuz, plan to reopen the vital waterway within 30 days of signing the deal.
Iran has been under U.S. sanctions for decades, and some sanctions relief under the 2015 nuclear deal was reversed when President Trump withdrew from the landmark deal signed under his predecessor, President Barack Obama. Sanctions have left billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen in foreign banks.
It is unclear how the memorandum differs from the 14-point plan that Iran proposed last week.
Reuters reported on Thursday, citing people briefed on the mediation, that U.S. negotiations are being led by Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. If both sides agree to a preliminary agreement, detailed negotiations will begin for 30 days to reach a full agreement.
A full deal would end the rival U.S.-Iran blockade of the Strait, lift U.S. sanctions and release frozen Iranian funds. This includes certain restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program recognized by the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
Sources said the memorandum initially did not require concessions from either side, but it did not address some key US demands that Iran has rejected in the past, such as curbing Iran’s missile program and ending support for armed proxies in the Middle East.
The sources also did not mention that Iran currently has a stockpile of more than 400 kg (900 pounds) of near-weapon-grade uranium.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an ally of President Trump, said Wednesday that the two leaders agreed that all enriched uranium must be removed from Iran to prevent it from developing a nuclear bomb.
The United States and Israel bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities last June during the 12-day war, after which President Trump claimed Tehran’s nuclear program had disappeared. A significant portion of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile remains buried within bombed-out nuclear facilities.
Tehran denies it wants to acquire nuclear weapons. The government maintains that the project is for civilian purposes within its status as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Could Iran agree to this proposal?
Iran has yet to formally react to the latest US proposal. However, Iranian leaders object to this.
Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaee, a spokesman for parliament’s powerful Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, said the document was “more like a U.S. wish list than reality.”
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf appeared to scoff at reports that the two countries were getting closer, writing in English on social media: “Operation Trust Me Bro has failed.”
Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar Atas, reporting from Tehran on Thursday, said Iran was still considering the US proposal, after which a response would be given to Pakistan’s mediator later today.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it welcomed the news of a potential agreement between Iran and the US, adding that it would not disclose any additional information at this stage.
“As a mediator, I will not lose the trust of both parties by revealing details,” he said in a statement carried by Al Jazeera Arabic.
“The Iranians are saying that at this stage they are not negotiating a nuclear program, their only objective is to end the war on all fronts,” Atas said.
He added that the Iranian government wants direct guarantees from the UN Security Council, sanctions relief and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Once that is achieved, we will be ready to discuss the nuclear program in the second phase.”
Al Jazeera’s Armigdad Al-Hayed reported from Tehran on Tuesday that Iran had set “very firm red lines” regarding its nuclear file. “The nuclear enrichment program is non-negotiable,” he said.
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Mark Kimmitt says President Trump’s reported request for Iran to halt all uranium enrichment is unrealistic and unlikely to be accepted by the Iranian government.
“If Iran has anything to stand for in the negotiations, it’s the right to enrich uranium to the 3.67% level allowed by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” he told Al Jazeera.
Kimmitt added that the 2015 nuclear deal also allowed Iran to continue enriching. After President Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 during his first term, Iran increased its enrichment to up to 60%.
However, Kimmitt hypothesized that President Trump might seek Iran’s existing enriched uranium stockpile outside Iran. He added that Iran could agree to transfer enriched uranium out of the country or dilute it to a non-enriched state.
However, Al-Jazeera correspondent Al-Hayed said Iran was resisting handing over its existing enriched uranium stockpile.
Iran is believed to have around 440 kg (970 lb) of 60% enriched uranium. Producing nuclear weapons requires 90 percent enriched uranium.
“Sovereignty of the Strait of Hormuz is becoming one of the main issues on the negotiating table,” Al-Jazeera’s Al-Hyed news agency said.
“We’re seeing Iran tightening its controls. They’re setting up new protocols, new mechanisms to control strategic choke points for each ship that passes through.”
U.S. allies in the Gulf are bearing the brunt of Iran’s retaliatory attacks and are demanding unconditional reopening of the strait. Iran carried out attacks on Gulf states, primarily targeting American military assets, after the United States and Israel launched attacks on February 28.
President Trump has repeatedly touted the possibility of a deal that would end the war, but so far he has been unsuccessful. The two countries remain at odds over a range of difficult issues, including Iran’s nuclear ambitions and control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Pakistani officials and another person briefed on the mediation told Reuters that the two sides are close to agreeing on a one-page memorandum that would formally end the conflict, the agency reported on Thursday.
The deal would lift the block on ships passing through the strait, lift U.S. sanctions on Iran and start talks to limit Iran’s nuclear program, the officials said.
However, Al Jazeera could not confirm the veracity of the report.
