Iran has submitted a new 14-point proposal to end the war with the US, after President Donald Trump warned the “clock is ticking” on a deal.
Tehran delivered the text to Pakistani mediators, who in turn passed the latest proposal to US officials, Iranian state media said.
A source it described as close to the negotiating team said Iran’s latest proposal focuses on negotiations to end the war and confidence-building measures by the Americans.
The 14-point text is a revised version of an earlier proposal submitted by Iran, which was rejected by the US and described as “garbage” by Mr Trump, leading to uncertainty over the ceasefire. Top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf at the time said there was “no alternative” to accepting Iran’s proposal. He warned American taxpayers would “pay for it” the longer Washington delayed.
The fate of the fragile truce, brokered by Pakistan, is in question as Iran and the US continue to trade threats, sparking fears of renewed fighting.
Mr Trump has warned Iran to move quickly to reach a revised nuclear deal, saying Iran could be “hit much harder” if it fails to improve its proposal.
'Time is of the essence'
“For Iran, the clock is ticking and they better get moving, fast, or there won’t be anything left of them,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. “Time is of the essence,” he added in capital letters.
Mr Trump has previously warned the US would wipe out Iranian infrastructure before backing down. On Saturday, he posted an AI-generated image of him standing on a ship along with an admiral in front of Iranian-flagged vessels. “It was the calm before the storm,” the image read.
The US President is expected to convene his national security team in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday, as tension with Iran escalates and the US considers its diplomatic and military options, Axios reported.
Citing two US officials, it said the meeting would focus on the next steps in negotiations but also on military planning.
Shifting goalposts
A Pakistani source on Monday said time was running out in securing a deal to end the war in the Middle East.
“We don't have much time,” the source told Reuters when asked about closing the gaps in the two positions. Both countries “keep changing their goalposts”, the source added.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday Tehran will not deviate from its rights under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons during talks.
Responding to a question on whether Tehran would accept a 20-year halt to uranium enrichment, Mr Baghaei said Iran’s focus for the negotiations is on ending the war. He added that Tehran has made its position on nuclear issues clear and stressed discussions at this stage are centred on ending the conflict.
Aside from Iran's nuclear programme, several other contentious points remain, including the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran blockaded the strait in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that began on February 28 and has since been holding the waterway as leverage in the conflict. The US imposed its own blockade over the strategic channel on April 13, after talks hosted and mediated by Pakistan last month failed to yield an agreement.
An extended blockade of the strait would further damage the global economy. The Energy Information Administration assumes it will remain effectively shut until the end of the month at the earliest. Traffic through the strait, which before the war amounted to a fifth of global oil supplies, is not expected to return to pre-conflict levels until later this year, the EIA said.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said it was in continual contact with Oman to develop a mechanism governing passage through the channel.
Mr Baghaei said the strait lies within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman, and that both countries consider themselves responsible for ensuring safe maritime traffic for all nations.
He added expert-level meetings were held in Muscat last week and that consultations between the two sides are continuing.
