The war in Iran will reach its 60-day mark at the midweek as negotiations lag in finding a deal between the United States’ interests of defeating Iran’s nuclear capabilities and balancing the global need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran gave the U.S. a new proposal to reopen the strait and end the war, but in the proposal, nuclear negotiations would be postponed for a later date. The plan was first reported Monday by Axios.
Pakistani mediators gave U.S. officials Iran’s new proposal, which would seek to end the stalemate by addressing the vital waterway for oil and the U.S. blockade on all Iranian ports. Then, the current ceasefire, which President Donald Trump recently extended indefinitely, would continue and allow the parties to sort through what needs to happen to make a permanent end to the war.
It’s a notable concession from Iranian officials, who have gone back and forth in recent weeks about attending negotiations in Pakistan, and what top leaders really want to get out of a deal in regard to their nuclear power.
So far, U.S. officials don’t seem to be eager to accept the proposal, particularly as Trump’s main objective for starting the conflict in the Middle East was to dismantle Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Trump has maintained that the U.S. blockade would be in effect until Iran came to the table. The offer came just days after a second round of peace talks fell apart when Iranian officials left Pakistan without meeting with U.S. counterparts.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was interviewed Monday by Fox News and said he believes the Iranians are serious about “getting themselves out of the mess that they’re in,” in response to the proposal. Iran is “worse off” and “weaker” than it was at the start of the conflict, Rubio said.
“I think they’re serious about figuring out how they can buy themselves more time. We can’t let them get away with it,” he said. “They’re very good negotiators. They’re very experienced negotiators. We have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”
Rubio said he hopes that once the conflict in the Middle East is over, the world will recognize how deadly the threat of Iran having a nuclear war would be. They want to use a nuclear weapon the way they are using oil, “they want to hold the world hostage so they can do whatever they want,” he said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Monday that Trump held a meeting in the Situation Room with top national security and foreign policy officials to discuss the proposal from Iran.
“I don’t want to get ahead of the president or his national security team. What I will reiterate is the president’s red lines with respect to Iran have been made very, very clear, not just to the American public, but also them as well,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say that they’re considering it, I would just say that there was a discussion this morning,” Leavitt added. “And you’ll hear directly from the president, I’m sure, on this topic very soon.”
Trump is hosting King Charles III and Queen Camilla for a state visit on Tuesday, but posted online Tuesday morning that Iran had informed the U.S. that they are in a “State of Collapse.”
“They want us to ‘Open the Hormuz Strait,’ as soon as possible, as they try to figure out their leadership situation (Which I believe they will be able to do!). Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump said.