IRAN’S new proposal to the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the two-month war — while postponing nuclear negotiations to a later stage — has failed to produce any breakthrough in the bilateral diplomatic impasse amid mounting global calls for de-escalation. According to US media reports and officials familiar with the matter, the proposal, conveyed through Pakistani mediators, sets aside discussion of Iran’s nuclear programme until the conflict with the United States and Israel has ended, and the deadlock over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is resolved.
It marks Tehran’s latest attempt to break a diplomatic deadlock that has persisted despite a fragile ceasefire reached earlier this month. According to US online media outlet Axios, the new proposal is aimed at breaking the current stalemate in the talks and bypassing the internal disagreements within the Iranian leadership about the scope of nuclear concessions it is willing to make. However, the latest proposal has received a cool response from Washington. US President Donald Trump discussed the proposal with his national security team on Monday, the White House confirmed. Trump was unhappy with the proposal because it postpones discussion of Iran’s nuclear programmes, an issue Washington insists must be addressed from the outset, Reuters reported, citing a US official familiar with the matter. Washington has repeatedly demanded that Tehran give up its stockpile of enriched uranium and suspend uranium enrichment as part of any broader settlement. White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said the United States “will not negotiate through the press” and the president has made his “red lines” clear to Tehran and the US public. The latest diplomatic push comes as the conflict has dramatically reshaped the regional security landscape and disrupted global energy supplies.
On 28 February, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran’s then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior commanders, and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US interests in the Middle East, and a tightened control over the Strait of Hormuz. A ceasefire was achieved between the warring parties on 8 April, followed by lengthy talks between Iranian and US delegations in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, which failed to yield an agreement. The United States later imposed its own blockade on the waterway. At least six tankers loaded with Iranian oil have been forced back to Iran by the US blockade in recent days, Reuters reported, citing ship-tracking data. Iran’s foreign ministry has condemned the seizures of Iran-linked vessels as “outright legalization of piracy and armed robbery on the high seas.”
Xinhua
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