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US President Donald Trump has announced he will delay for two weeks the bombing of Iran's bridges and power plants, provided the Strait of Hormuz is immediately and safely reopened.
In a social media post, he said he was holding off after receiving a 10-point proposal from Iran, which the US believes constitutes a "workable basis on which to negotiate".
Mr Trump said: “Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two-week period will allow the agreement to be finalised and consummated.”
But that 10-point plan, as presented by Iran, contains several apparent non-starters for the US. On Monday, Mr Trump called the proposal significant but “not good enough”.
No official version of the proposal has been made available, but a summary released by Iran's Supreme National Security Council includes demands for the following:
- Strait of Hormuz to be reopened "under the co-ordination of the armed forces of Iran"
- Establishment of a "secure transit protocol" in the Strait of Hormuz
- The war against "all components" of Iran's so-called Axis of Resistance to end
- US forces to withdraw from "all bases and points of deployment within the region"
- Full payment of compensation to Iran
- Lifting of all primary sanctions
- Lifting of all secondary sanctions
- Termination of all UN Security Council resolutions
- Termination of all IAEA resolutions on Iran's nuclear programme
- Release of all frozen Iranian assets and properties abroad
It was not immediately clear if the US had agreed to any of those demands, even in principle, or whether the list is entirely accurate.
Alternative versions have been circulated by Iranian embassies, Iranian state media and various international media outlets. Talks are set to begin on Friday in Islamabad.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the 10-point proposal, and a 15-point proposal put forward by the US, would form the "basis" of discussions.
Mr Trump has for years attacked former president Barack Obama for sending hundreds of millions of dollars in unfrozen Iranian cash to Tehran as part of the 2015 nuclear deal, so the idea that he would agree to sending reparation money to Iran appears far-fetched.
Similarly, the departure of US forces from the Middle East bases would appear to be at odds with decades of US foreign policy.
Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran programme at the Middle East Institute, said that, while there are significant gaps between the US and Iranian positions, there is potential for agreement, especially on a permanent ceasefire.
"They're talking in a way that you at least have the ability to agree on a basic framework that you then have to build on," he told The National.
He added that he was relieved by the breakthrough after a troubling day. "You have a window here to prevent disaster – and we were very close to it. I mean, the idea of what Trump was talking about would have been disastrous for the whole region," he said.
