Washington: Iran has presented the United States with a new proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, while postponing nuclear negotiations to a later stage, according to a report, which cited a US official and two sources familiar with the matter.
According to US media outlet Axios, the proposal aims to break the current stalemate in the negotiations and bypass the internal disagreements within the Iranian leadership over the scope of nuclear concessions it is willing to make.
“But lifting the blockade and ending the war would remove President Trump’s 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,” the report said.
Meanwhile, citing three US officials, the report further noted that the US President is expected to hold a Situation Room meeting on the conflict on Monday (local time) with his top national security and foreign policy team.
The sources told Axios that Trump’s team would discuss the stalemate in the talks and potential next steps.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday (local time), Trump signalled that he wants to continue the naval blockade to halt Iran’s oil exports, with an aim that it will get Tehran to give up in the coming times.
“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 was quoted as saying in the interview with Fox News by Axios.
This comes as tensions between the US and Iran deepened after the Islamabad talks ended without progress.
(IANS)
