Iran proposes to U.S. to open Hormuz and end war - media
Iran has proposed to the United States to unblock the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, postponing negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program to a later stage.
This was reported by the online publication Axios, citing two unnamed informed sources.
Diplomacy has reached a deadlock, and there is no consensus within the Iranian leadership on the possibility of making concessions regarding Tehran's nuclear program, according to the publication. "Iran's proposal would allow bypassing this issue on the path to a quicker deal," the journalists note. "However, lifting the blockade (of the Strait of Hormuz - ed.) and ending the war would deprive U.S. President Donald Trump of leverage in any future negotiations aimed at ensuring that Iran transfers (to a foreign country - ed.) its stockpiles of enriched uranium and ceases its enrichment," the authors add.
According to three unnamed American officials cited by Axios, Trump intends to hold a meeting today with his national security and foreign affairs team leadership on the topic of Iran. One of the sources indicated that the stalled negotiations and possible next steps will be discussed at this meeting.
According to the pan-Arab satellite channel Al Mayadeen, Iran proposed to the U.S. to divide the negotiations into three stages. The first stage should reach an agreement on ending the war and providing guarantees for Iran and Lebanon. The second stage includes issues of managing the Strait of Hormuz, while the third will focus on Iran's nuclear program. As reported by Al Mayadeen, Tehran refuses to discuss the last point until an agreement is reached on the previous two.
Donald Trump, in a telephone interview with Fox News on April 26, made it clear that he intends to continue the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has halted Iran's oil exports, in the hope that this will force Tehran to make concessions within the next few weeks.
In the same interview, Trump stated that U.S. negotiators will no longer travel to Pakistan for talks on Iran. Sending negotiators to Pakistan takes a lot of time, the American leader argued. "If they (the Iranians - ed.) want, we can talk, but we’re not going to send people on an 18-hour journey to meet," the U.S. president concluded.
The day before, he canceled the announced trip of his negotiators Stephen Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, where another round of U.S.-Iran talks was scheduled for late April. On the same day, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who represents the country in the negotiations, left Pakistan.
Source: DW
