“I’m supposed to be getting a letter tonight, so we’ll see how that goes,” Trump told reporters in front of the White House on Friday (local time). Rubio had previously said that Washington expected an Iranian response to the proposal on Friday. “I really hope that it is a serious offer,” said Rubio during a visit to Rome.
The Iranian government says it is currently examining the US’s new negotiation proposal. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bakaei said Tehran would convey its position to mediator Pakistan “after completing its consultations.”
According to media reports, there is currently a one-sided memorandum from Washington on the basis of which negotiations on a comprehensive peace solution will continue. Trump cited the Islamic Republic’s renunciation of nuclear weapons as a condition for an agreement.
According to the news portal Axios, the agreement stipulates that Iran commits to a moratorium on uranium enrichment and in return the USA releases billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds. According to the report, Trump gave Iran a 48-hour deadline to agree on the key points.
Araghchi said on Saturday in a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, according to the Isna news agency: “The recent escalation of tensions by the American forces and their multiple violations of the ceasefire reinforce suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy.”
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al-Thani called for a revival of diplomatic efforts to end the Iran war at a meeting with US Vice President JD Vance in Washington. Al-Thani emphasized at the meeting that “all parties must participate in the ongoing mediation efforts to pave the way for addressing the causes of the crisis through peaceful means and dialogue,” the Qatari Foreign Ministry said on Friday on the online service X.
The aim is a “comprehensive agreement that ensures lasting peace in the region,” said al-Thani, according to the ministry. The conversation was also about Pakistan’s mediation efforts in the conflict. In addition to US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Vance also took part in the first round of negotiations in Islamabad. The talks ended without results.
There is currently an official ceasefire in the region. Regardless of this, fighting was reported again on Friday. The US Central Command (Centcom), which is responsible for the Gulf region, said that US forces had disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that were trying to break the US partial blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian navy responded to “American terrorism,” an Iranian military official said, according to local media. The “clashes” are now over.
The USA and Israel started the Iran war with air strikes on February 28th. Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel as well as several Gulf states and US facilities in the region. Energy infrastructure in particular was severely damaged.
On Friday, the Conflict and Environment Observatory (Ceobs) published satellite images showing an oil slick in the Persian Gulf off the Iranian island of Kharg. According to the UK-based organization, it is one of the largest oil spills discovered in the Gulf since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran began.
Kharg Island, located in the north of the Persian Gulf, is Iran’s main oil terminal and normally handles 90 percent of the country’s crude oil. At the end of March, Trump threatened to “destroy” the island if Iran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic. As a result of the blockage of the strait, hundreds of merchant ships, including oil tankers, are currently stranded in the Gulf.
