Iran offered the US to open the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, postponing negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program to a later date, Axios reports citing sources.
Iran offered the US to unblock the Strait of Hormuz and end the war by postponing negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program to a later stage. This was reported on Monday, April 27, 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, the publication states. "Iran's proposal would circumvent this issue on the way to a quicker deal," the journalists note. "However, lifting the blockade (from the Strait of Hormuz - Ed.) and ending the war would deprive US President Donald Trump of leverage in any future negotiations aimed at getting Iran to relocate (to one of the foreign countries - Ed.) its stockpiles of enriched uranium and cease its enrichment," the authors add.
According to three unnamed American officials cited by Axios, Trump intends to hold a meeting on April 27 with the leadership of his national security and foreign affairs team regarding Iran. One of the publication's sources indicated that the meeting would discuss the stalled negotiations and possible subsequent steps.
Al Mayadeen TV Channel: Iran proposed to the US to break negotiations into three stages
According to the pan-Arab satellite TV channel Al Mayadeen, Iran proposed to the US to break negotiations into three stages. The first should reach an agreement on ending the war and providing guarantees for Iran and Lebanon. The second includes issues of managing the Strait of Hormuz, while the third will focus on the Iranian nuclear program. As reported by Al Mayadeen, Tehran refuses to discuss the latter point until an agreement is reached on the two previous ones.
Cancellation of Whitcoff and Kushner's visit to Pakistan
Donald Trump indicated in a phone interview with Fox News on April 26 that he intends to continue the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has cut off Iran's oil exports, hoping that this will force Tehran to make concessions in the coming weeks.
In the same interview, Trump stated that US negotiators would no longer fly to Pakistan for talks on Iran. Sending negotiators to Pakistan takes a lot of time, the American leader argued. "If they want, we can talk, but we will not send people on an 18-hour journey to meet," the American president summarized.
The day before, he canceled the announced trip of his negotiators Stephen Whitcoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, where another round of US negotiations with Iran was supposed to take place at the end of April. On the same day, the head of the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry, Abbas Araghchi, representing the country in the negotiations, left Pakistan.
Araghchi to meet with Putin in Moscow
Meanwhile, on April 27, Reuters reported, citing Iranian media, that Araghchi intends to visit Russia, where he will discuss with Russian partners "bilateral relations and regional issues, including the Iran-US conflict." The Iranian embassy clarified that Araghchi will arrive in Moscow for consultations dedicated to the progress of negotiations with the US, ceasefire, and other "events surrounding the conflict" with the US. The press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, stated that Araghchi will meet with Vladimir Putin, among others.
