JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump is studying a new Iranian proposal on ending the war with Tehran with his national security aides on Monday, as the conflict remains at an impasse as energy supplies from the Middle East region dwindle.
President Trump met with his national security team on Monday morning local time.
"There was a discussion this morning that I don't want to reveal early, and you will soon hear directly from the president on this topic," said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, as reported by Al Arabiya from Reuters (28/4).
Iranian sources earlier on Monday revealed Tehran's latest proposal, which would delay discussions on Iran's nuclear program until the war ends and disputes over shipments from the Gulf are resolved.
That is unlikely to satisfy Washington, which says Tehran's nuclear problems should have been addressed from the start.
Efforts to bridge the gap between the US and Iran are not stopping, said a source from Pakistan as a mediator, although there was no face-to-face diplomacy after President Trump canceled his representative's visit last weekend.
Hopes for reviving the peace effort have faded since the US President this weekend announced he had canceled a visit by envoys, in particular Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, to Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, where Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was over the weekend.
Senior Iranian sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the proposal brought by Araghchi to Islamabad last weekend envisaged gradual talks, with the nuclear issue excluded at first.
The first step would require an end to the US-Israeli war in Iran and provide assurances that Washington could not start it again. Then the negotiators would resolve the US blockade and the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran wants to reopen under its control.
Only then will talks address other issues, including a long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear program, with Iran still seeking some sort of US recognition of its right to enrich uranium for what it says are peaceful purposes.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he thought Iran was trying to buy time.
"We can't let them get away with it," he said in an interview with Fox News.
"They are very good negotiators. They are very experienced negotiators. We have to make sure that any deal made, any agreement made, is a deal that definitely prevents them from rushing to nuclear weapons at any time," said Secretary of State Rubio.
Foreign Minister Araghchi also visited Oman and on Monday went to Russia, where he met President Vladimir Putin and received support from his old allies.
Foreign Minister Araghchi told reporters in Russia, President Trump has asked for negotiations because the US has not achieved any of its goals.
Pakistani officials said negotiations were still taking place remotely, but there were no plans for a face-to-face meeting until the two sides were close enough to sign a memorandum.
Although the ceasefire has halted the US-Israeli attack on Iran that began on February 28, no agreement has been reached on the terms for ending the war that has killed thousands of people, raised oil prices, triggered inflation, and worsened global economic growth prospects.
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