Iran Says the US’s Latest Proposal Has ‘Narrowed the Gaps’

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(Bloomberg) — Iran said the latest proposal from the US has partly bridged the gap between the warring sides, as they seek to turn a fragile ceasefire into a peace deal.

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Tehran is in the process of responding to a text submitted by the US, which “has narrowed the gaps to some extent,” the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported on Thursday, without saying where it got the information. “Further narrowing requires an end to the temptation for war on Washington’s part.”

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The exchange of messages is based on Iran’s 14-point text from several weeks ago, the Iranian foreign ministry said separately. That plan essentially suggests a short-term deal that would see Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the US lift a blockade of Iranian ports, with the warring sides then going into deeper negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.

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Iran gave no indication of when it would formally answer the US. The Iranian foreign ministry reiterated it wants a commitment that fighting will end “on all fronts, including Lebanon.” It also called for the unfreezing of sanctioned assets.

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Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has positioned himself as the most powerful person in Pakistan, is visiting Tehran on Thursday, ISNA reported. Islamabad is the main mediator between the sides.

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The developments follow renewed threats of escalation between the US and Iran as their stand-off drags on.

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US President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that the US was in the “final stages” with Iranian diplomacy, sparking investor hopes a deal was close. US Treasury prices jumped and oil dropped.

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But the president then warned he may resume attacks in the coming days if Iran didn’t agree to his terms, a threat he has made multiple times since a ceasefire took effect on April 8.

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“We’ll either have a deal or we’re going to do some things that are a little bit nasty,” he said. “But hopefully that won’t happen.”

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Key sticking points between the sides include Iran’s nuclear enrichment and its stocks of highly-processed uranium. The US is demanding Tehran hands over the latter, due to fears Tehran may use it to build an atomic bomb, and commits to ending enrichment for at least a decade. Iranian leaders have balked at those in public.

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Reuters, on Thursday, reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had issued a directive that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad. Reuters cited two unnamed Iranian people familiar with the matter.

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Iran has consistently rejected calls to ship the enriched-uranium stockpile to the US, but has indicated it could move it to a third country. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi last week thanked Russia, a key ally to Tehran and a party to the last Iran nuclear deal in 2015, for its offer to take the material, while cautioning that the idea wasn’t currently under discussion.