Iran Says It Has Received U.S. Response to Latest Talks Proposal

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U.S. and Iranian flags.

Iran said on Sunday it had received a U.S. response to its latest offer for peace talks, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would probably reject the Iranian proposal because "they have not paid a big enough price".

Iranian state media reported that Washington had conveyed its response to Iran's 14-point proposal via Pakistan, ‌and that Tehran was now reviewing it. There was no immediate confirmation from Washington or Islamabad of the U.S. response.

"At this stage, we do not have nuclear negotiations," state media quoted Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying, an apparent reference to Iran's proposal to set aside talks on nuclear issues until after the war ends and the foes agree to lift opposing blockades of Gulf shipping.

On Saturday, President Trump said that he had yet to review the exact wording of the Iranian peace proposal, but that he was likely to reject it.

"I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years," he wrote on social ⁠media.

Iran handed over its latest proposal on Thursday, and a senior Iranian official confirmed on Saturday that Tehran envisions ending the war and resolving the shipping standoff first, while leaving talks on Iran's nuclear programme for later.

Though the U.S. President initially said on Friday that he was not satisfied with the Iranian proposal, he said on Saturday he was still looking at it.

"They told me about the concept of the deal. They're going to give me the exact wording now," he told reporters. Asked if he might restart strikes on Iran, President Trump replied: "I don't want to say that. I mean, I can’t tell that to a reporter. If they misbehave, if they do something bad, right now we’ll see. But it’s a possibility that could happen."

The proposal to delay talks on nuclear issues until a later phase would appear at odds with Washington's repeated demand that Iran accept stringent restrictions on its nuclear programme before the war can end.

Washington wants Tehran to give up its stockpile of more than 400 kg (900 pounds) of highly enriched uranium, which the United States says could be used to make a bomb. Iran says its nuclear programme ‌is peaceful, though ⁠it is willing to discuss some curbs in return for the lifting of sanctions, as it had accepted in a 2015 deal that President Trump abandoned.

Source: Reuters



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