US President Donald Trump said he had decided to suspend attacks on Iran at the request of Gulf leaders, after Tehran sent a new peace proposal to Washington through Pakistan.
President Trump said Monday that it is “very likely” that the United States will reach a deal with Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
The first temporary ceasefire began on April 8, six weeks after the war began. The violence has largely subsided since then, but a lasting peace deal remains elusive, with both the US and Iran unhappy with each other’s proposed terms.
Also on Monday, Saudi Arabia announced it had intercepted three drones, a day after a drone attack on the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates. This has further heightened concerns about the possibility of a new military escalation in the Gulf as peace negotiations drag on.
What is President Trump saying about a new attack on Iran?
In response to reports of drone strikes on the UAE and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday, President Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social: “For Iran, the clock is ticking. We better move fast or there will be nothing left. Time is of the essence!”
Later on Monday, President Trump wrote another post saying he had been asked by the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to postpone a strike on Iran scheduled for Tuesday because “serious negotiations are currently underway.”
He added that he had directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Kaine, and the U.S. military not to carry out the planned attack. But he added: “I have further directed that if an acceptable agreement is not reached, we must be ready to immediately proceed with a full-scale, large-scale attack on Iran.”
What do we know about the latest peace plan submitted by Iran?
Iran has submitted a revised 14-point peace plan to end the war, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghai said in a press conference on Monday that Iran’s reaction to the previous US proposal was “transmitted to the US side through the intermediary Pakistan,” according to Tasnim news agency.
Washington and Tehran have exchanged proposals in recent weeks amid a ceasefire that has largely halted six weeks of fighting. But initial direct talks brokered by Pakistan in Islamabad in April stalled, and President Trump last week said the ceasefire was “on life support.”
Specific proposals in Iran’s latest plan have not been made public, but Baghai said demands include the release of assets frozen abroad and the lifting of sanctions.
“The issues raised are Iranian demands, which have been staunchly defended by the Iranian negotiating team at every negotiation stage,” he said.
Iran has also demanded compensation for damages caused by US and Israeli attacks, an end to the ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports, and an end to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israeli forces continue to attack daily and have launched a ground invasion in the country’s south.
The US government has called on Iran to scrap its nuclear program and lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war transported one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies.
What are the main issues between Iran and the US?
A key point of contention is Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles. During the negotiations, the United States asked Iran to transfer enriched uranium, but Iran resisted this request.
Iran is believed to have around 440 kg (970 lb) of 60% enriched uranium. Producing nuclear weapons requires 90 percent enriched uranium. Iran has never publicly declared its intention to produce nuclear weapons. The United States would like to hand over the shares, but Iran reportedly intends to only consider transferring them to a third party if possible.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters on the sidelines of the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi last week that Iran and the United States had reached an “impasse” over Iran’s “enriched materials” issue.
As a result, he said, the topic had been “postponed” until a later stage of negotiations. “For the time being, it is not being discussed or in negotiations, but we will take up this matter at a later stage.”
Araghchi acknowledged that he had spoken with Russian officials about an offer from Moscow to store Iran’s enriched uranium. He said Iran may consider Russia’s proposal “at the appropriate time” and appreciated Moscow’s efforts.
“Once we get to that stage, obviously we will have further discussions with Russia and see if their proposals are helpful,” he said.
The United States and Iran are also debating whether Iran should be allowed to enrich uranium at all. Under the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed with several countries in 2015, Iran could continue enriching to 3.87 percent, enough to develop a nuclear program. President Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018, despite consistent reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran was complying with the deal’s terms. The US now wants a moratorium on all uranium enrichment for up to 20 years.
Another point of conflict between the two countries is the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
Iran has restricted shipping through the strait since early March. The strait is a narrow waterway that connects Gulf oil-producing countries to the open ocean, and in normal times, 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies are transported through the strait. Iran allows ships from some countries to pass through, but transit negotiations are required with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
In previous proposals to end the war, Iran has mentioned imposing tolls and tolls on ships attempting to transit through Iran. The US government has repeatedly rejected this prospect. In April, the United States announced a naval blockade of ships entering and leaving Iranian ports, adding further disruption to global oil and gas supplies.
Iranian state media reported, citing Iran’s Foreign Ministry, that Iranian and Omani technical teams met in Oman to negotiate a mechanism for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
A third major point of friction, which may also come up for discussion later, is Iran’s support for a network of “proxy” armed groups around the Middle East that it calls the “Axis of Resistance.” These include Yemen’s Houthis, which have previously caused chaos by attacking Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and several groups based in Iraq and Syria.
