Iran pushes proposal to delay nuclear talks, ties them to US ending blockade, Hormuz reopening first
A senior Iranian official indicated Saturday that the regime is pushing for a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, while tabling negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program for later, Reuters reported. Iran submitted a new proposal to Pakistan on Friday, as a second round of face-to-face talks with the U.S. there has twice failed to materialize in the past few weeks.
President Donald Trump has consistently rejected the notion of lifting the U.S. military’s blockade on Iranian ports without a deal ensuring the regime would not be able to obtain a nuclear weapon.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, “They’re asking for things that I can’t agree to.”
“They want to make a deal,” Trump said. “I’m not satisfied with it… Iran wants to make a deal because they have no military left, essentially.”
The senior Iranian official categorized the new framework’s shifting of nuclear talks to a later stage as a significant step towards achieving a deal to end the war, Reuters reported. The regime’s terms are that the war ends with the U.S. lifting the blockade on Iranian ports, Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz and a guarantee that the U.S. and Israel would not attack again.
Future talks would then be held on Iran limiting its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, with Iran also asking the U.S. to recognize its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, Reuters reported. The official said this proposal had been formally presented to the U.S. through mediators.
“Under this framework, negotiations over the more complicated nuclear issue have been moved to the final stage to create a more conducive atmosphere,” the Iranian official told Reuters.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump told reporters at the White House Friday that the U.S. has “tremendous respect” for the Pakistani mediators in Islamabad and the negotiations were continuing “telephonically,” noting Iran’s leadership is “very disjointed.”
“They all want to make a deal, but they’re all messed up,” Trump said.
In remarks in Florida later Friday, Trump reiterated his stance. “You cannot give Iran a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “Because they will use it on a place called Israel very quickly, and they would use it in the Middle East, and they’d use it in Europe, and I guess we’d be next. And it’s not going to happen.”
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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