Mediators are working to narrow differences between Iran and the US ahead of a possible resumption of direct negotiations next week, according to Arab sources briefed by participants in the talks.
The Pakistan-led mediation, in which fellow US allies Turkey and Egypt are participating, is finalising a “workable agenda” that could provide the basis for a deal to end the Iran war, the sources told The National on Thursday.
“They are not drafting a deal, but rather outlining an agenda for negotiations that has the potential to produce a comprehensive agreement,” said one of the sources.
“There are some encouraging and positive signs already emerging.”
Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir, who has led his nation's team of mediators, was travelling to Tehran on Thursday as part of the mediation, according to Iran's Isna news agency. Iranian media cited a foreign ministry representative as saying that Tehran had received the latest US proposals and was studying them.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday repeated his threat to resume attacks against Iran if it did not agree to a peace deal. He suggested Washington could wait for a few days to “get the right answers”.
The sources said Mr Trump had informed the mediators that he could, as a last resort, strike five locations in Iran that US intelligence reports suggest are the main storage and manufacturing sites of ballistic missiles and drones.
They explained that the reports indicate that the sites are located 80-120 metres underground in mountainous areas.
Mr Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that the mediators were working on a “letter of intent” that Washington and Tehran would sign to formally end the war and launch a 30-day period of negotiations on issues such as Iran's nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz, according to the news site Axios.
There has been no confirmation from either Washington or Tel Aviv of the Axios report, which The National could not immediately verify.
The Iran war began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched air strikes. Tehran's response included attacks on its Gulf neighbours and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway at the mouth of the Gulf that is vital to global trade.
The sources said Iran has suggested to the mediators its willingness in principle to suspend its nuclear programme for up to 12 years, subject to unspecified conditions. The US, they said, wanted the programme suspended for at least 20 years.
The Trump administration, they added, had already rejected an Iranian demand for the US to pay war reparations and release a significant percentage of assets frozen under an American-led regime of sanctions over its nuclear programme.
The US, they added, had told mediators it was ready to participate in the reconstruction and could possibly accept a joint administration of the strait by Iran and Oman. Muscat and Tehran have held several rounds of talks on this in recent months.
The Iranian proposal on the strait entails charging transit fees on vessels using the waterway, with revenue shared by Tehran and Muscat, according to the sources.
Egypt, Turkey and Iran, they added, were also trying to persuade the US to accept Russia and China, who maintain close relations with Tehran – as guarantors of any deal reached to end the war.
