ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON/BEIJING: As Iran said it was reviewing a new US proposal, President Donald Trump said Wednesday he believed a deal with Iran was “very possible”, but threatened to resume his bombardment of the country if negotiations fell apart.
Despite the US leader’s optimism, Iran has yet to respond to a new US proposal, with its chief negotiator warning that Washington was seeking to force the Islamic republic’s “surrender”.
Trump said on social media Wednesday that if “Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to”, the war would be over, but if not, the bombing would resume “at a much higher level and intensity”.
“We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal,” Trump later told reporters in the Oval Office. Trump said that Iran wanted to negotiate. “We’re dealing with people that want to make a deal very much, and we’ll see whether or not they can make a deal that’s satisfactory to us,” he said at an event at the White House.
President Trump told The New York Post Wednesday morning it is “too soon” to start thinking about face-to-face peace talks between the US and Iran, despite optimistic reports the two nations are closing in on a potential framework to end their 67-day war.
Asked whether The Post should prepare to send a reporter back to Pakistan for a new round of negotiations after Islamabad sources indicated a tentative peace deal was close, the president responded: “I don’t think so. ”However, The Post understands multiple versions of the proposal are under discussion, and final points to be included had not yet been decided.
“Which one is going to be approved, no one knows,” said a Pakistani source familiar with mediation efforts. A second Islamabad source said the biggest hangup between the two sides is the question of how soon Iran can begin enriching uranium again, whether after five years, 20 years — or never.
“The main hurdle is the duration of enrichment restrictions,” the source said. “There is no final deal yet.” “I think we’ll do it — it’s too far,” he added. “No, it’s too much.”
Iran said on Wednesday it was reviewing a new US proposal, after sources said Washington and Tehran were closing in on a one-page memorandum to end the war in the Gulf while leaving tricky issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme for later.
An Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, cited by Iran’s ISNA news agency, said Tehran would convey its response soon via Pakistan, which hosted the war’s only peace talks and has since served as the main conduit for messages between the sides. A Pakistani source and another source briefed on the mediation confirmed information initially reported by the US media outlet Axios about a proposed 14-point, one-page memorandum that would formally end the war. The memorandum would be followed by discussions to unblock shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, lift US sanctions on Iran and agree curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme, the sources said.
“We will close this very soon. We are getting close,” said the source from Pakistan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump’s ally against Iran, said the two men planned to speak later on Wednesday and that they agreed that all enriched uranium must be removed from Iran to prevent it from developing a nuclear bomb.
Tehran denies wanting to acquire a nuclear weapon. Reports of a possible agreement caused global oil prices to tumble to two-week lows, with benchmark Brent crude futures falling around 11% to around $98 a barrel LCOc1 at one point before paring some of their losses.
Global share prices also leapt and bond yields fell on optimism of an end to a war that has disrupted energy supplies. O/RMKTS/GLOB
In an early morning post on Truth Social, Trump said: “Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran.”
“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before,” Trump added. Hours earlier, Trump paused a two-day-old naval mission to reopen the blockaded strait, citing progress in peace talks.
US military forces fired several rounds at an unladen Iranian-flagged tanker on Wednesday, disabling the vessel as it attempted to sail toward an Iranian port in violation of the blockade, US Central Command said in a post on X.
The source briefed on the mediation said the US negotiations were being led by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. If both sides agreed on the preliminary deal, that would start the clock on 30 days of detailed negotiations to reach a full agreement.
The full agreement would include the US lifting sanctions and releasing frozen Iranian funds, Iran and the US lifting competing blockades on the Strait of Hormuz, and some curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme, with the aim of a pause or moratorium on Iranian enrichment of uranium.
While the sources said the memorandum would not initially require concessions from either side, they did not mention several key demands Washington has made in the past, which Iran has rejected, such as curbs on Iran’s missile programme and an end to its support for proxy militias in the Middle East.
The sources spoke of potential curbs on future Iranian enrichment of uranium, but made no mention of Iran’s existing stockpile of more than 400 kg (900 pounds) of it, already enriched to near weapons grade, which Washington has previously demanded it yield up to end the war.
And even if the reported text appeared to sidestep some demands rejected by Iran in the past, there were indications Tehran could still hold out for more. In a post on X, Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for parliament’s powerful foreign policy and national security committee, described the text reported by Axios as “more of an American wish-list than a reality”.
“The Americans will not gain anything in a war they are losing that they have not gained in face-to-face negotiations,” he wrote. Meanwhile, United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received calls from regional leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, condemning what they described as Iranian attacks on civilians and civilian facilities in the UAE, the state news agency WAM says.
The leaders “affirmed their countries’ solidarity with the UAE and support for measures it takes to safeguard its security and stability and ensure the safety of its citizens,” WAM adds. The UAE foreign ministry said that its ties and its international and defense partnerships were a “purely sovereign matter,” rejecting an earlier statement by Iran saying that Abu Dhabi’s cooperation with the US threatened Iran’s security and national interests.
The foreign ministry said the UAE reserves its full sovereign, legal, diplomatic and military rights to address any “threat, allegation or hostile act”. In Beijing, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met China’s top diplomat on Wednesday, underscoring close ties between the two countries shortly before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to meet with Xi Jinping.
Araqchi’s visit, announced by state news agency Xinhua, is his first trip to China since the US-Israeli war on Iran set off the most severe global oil supply shock in history.
After the meeting, Iran’s foreign ministry said that Araqchi briefed Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the talks with the US and said: “Iran, just as it demonstrated strength in defending itself and remains fully prepared to confront any aggression, is also serious and steadfast in the field of diplomacy.”
“We will do our best to protect our legitimate rights and interests in the negotiations,” Araqchi said, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency. “We only accept a fair and comprehensive agreement,” he added, with regard to talks between Tehran and Washington.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Araqchi his country “will work harder to ease tensions and end the fighting, continue to support the launch of peace talks, and play a greater role in restoring peace and tranquillity to the Middle East.”
The Chinese foreign ministry said after the talks that “the current regional situation is at a critical juncture of transition from war to peace,” adding that “China believes that a complete cessation of hostilities is imperative, restarting the conflict is unacceptable and persisting in negotiations is particularly important.”
It also urged the “parties involved” to promptly restore “normal and safe passage” through the Strait of Hormuz. On the nuclear issue, it said that “China appreciates Iran’s commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, while also recognizing Iran’s legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”
