- The United States says nuclear issues must be addressed from the beginning.
- Trump is unhappy about delaying the deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
- Iran demands the blockade be lifted before negotiations begin.
US President Donald Trump is unhappy with Iran’s latest proposal to resolve the two-month war, a US official said, dampening hopes for a resolution to the conflict that has disrupted energy supplies, fueled inflation and killed thousands of people.
Iran’s latest proposal would put aside discussion of Iran’s nuclear program until the war ends and disputes over shipping from the Gulf are resolved.
That is unlikely to satisfy the United States, which says nuclear issues must be addressed from the beginning, and Trump was unhappy with Iran’s proposal for that reason, said a U.S. official briefed on the president’s Monday meeting with his advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said the United States “will not negotiate through the press” and has “been clear about our red lines” as the Trump administration seeks to end the war against Iran that began in February alongside Israel.
An earlier 2015 deal between Iran and many other countries, including the United States, sharply restricted Iran’s nuclear program, which it has long maintained is for civilian and peaceful purposes. But that deal fell apart when Trump unilaterally withdrew in his first term.
Hopes for reviving peace efforts have diminished since the US president scrapped a planned visit last weekend by his special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner to Islamabad, where Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi came and went twice over the weekend.
Araqchi also visited Oman and on Monday traveled to Russia, where he met with President Vladimir Putin and received words of support from a long-time ally.
Oil prices rise again
With the warring parties apparently still far apart, oil prices resumed their upward march, extending gains in early Asian trading on Tuesday.
“For oil traders, it is no longer the rhetoric that matters, but the actual physical flow of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz, and right now, that flow remains limited,” Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com, said in a note.
At least six tankers loaded with Iranian oil have been forced to return to Iran by the US blockade in recent days, ship tracking data showed, underscoring the impact of the war on traffic.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned US seizures of Iran-linked oil tankers as “absolute legalization of piracy and armed robbery on the high seas,” in a social media post.
Between 125 and 140 ships typically entered and left the strait daily before the war, but only seven did so on the last day, according to Kpler ship-tracking data and SynMax satellite analysis, and none of them were carrying oil bound for the global market.
With his approval ratings falling, Trump faces domestic pressure to end a war for which he has given the American public shifting reasons.
Araqchi told reporters in Russia that Trump had requested negotiations because the United States had not achieved any of its goals.
Senior Iranian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the proposal brought by Araqchi to Islamabad over the weekend envisaged talks in stages, leaving aside the nuclear issue from the start.
A first step would require ending the US-Israel war against Iran and offering guarantees that the US cannot start it again. Negotiators would then resolve the US Navy’s blockade of Iran’s maritime trade and the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran seeks to reopen under its control.
Only then would the talks address other issues, including the long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, in which Iran still seeks some form of recognition from the United States of its right to enrich uranium.
