Iran Conveys Response To US Proposal To End Conflict

Tehran has conveyed its response to a proposal by Washington to end its two-month standoff with Washington, state-run IRNA news agency said on Sunday.
Iran’s response to the US proposal has been shared through mediator Pakistan, CNBC reported.

In its response, the Islamic Republic has suggested that the immediate negotiations should focus solely on the cessation of hostilities in the region, the IRNA report said.
A Reuters report citing sources in the rival camps said the efforts now are aimed at a temporary understanding to halt the war and facilitate traffic though the Strait of Hormuz.
Once such a truce is established, a final deal could be reached after extensive negotiations, including on the vexed issue of Iran’s nuclear program.

The fresh development comes a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Miami. Axios reported about the meeting without disclosing the details. Some reports indicated the talks mainly revolved around aspects of a potential Iran deal .

The US has refused to allow Iran to continue its nuclear program, and has sought a moratorium on uranium enrichment by Tehran.

The US administration believes the difficulty in holding negotiations with Iran stems from the leadership crisis in the country, with its injured Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in hiding.

“We know that Mojtaba, the new Ayatollah, the previous Ayatollah’s son, has been severely injured. He’s in hiding. He’s incredibly difficult to get a hold of, yet the IRGC is still deferential to some degree, so that is making the negotiations go longer and slower, I think, than anyone would like,” Michael Waltz, the US Ambassador to the UN, told ABC.
Waltz admitted that despite this, talks are continuing to end the deadlock.
“So we’ll see what they come back with,” he said.
On Sunday, a Qatari natural gas tanker crossed the strait for the first time since the start of the Iran war. The tanker was reportedly heading for Pakistan, according to data from the shipping analytics firm Kpler. Iran had previously said the Strait remains open to friendly countries.
Iran has said vessels from countries that facilitate US sanctions against Iran would face issues crossing the Strait, according to a report in Tehran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency on Sunday.
The move to allow the Qatari tanker headed to Pakistan is seen as a confidence building measure by Iran aimed at both the mediating countries.
A fifth of the world’s oil and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) flowed through the Strait of Hormuz before the US-Israel war in began on February 28.
While reopening the Strait is a stated objective of US President Donald Trump, Iran has sought to control transit of vessels through the passage. The US is carrying out a blockade of ships transiting to and from Iranian ports through the Strait.