Multiple reports published on Monday and Tuesday indicate that President Donald Trump did not respond favorably to a proposal from what remains of the Iranian Islamist regime to commit to formally ending hostilities before any negotiations to stop Iran’s illicit nuclear development.
President Trump indefinitely paused airstrikes and other military attacks on Iran this month, stating that the original mission there, Operation Epic Fury, had succeeded in devastating Iran’s ability to pose a threat to America and its allies in the Middle East. He also announced last week that he would no longer send his diplomatic team to negotiate with Iran in mediating state Pakistan, complaining that, as a result of the elimination of dozens of leaders in the dictatorship, Iran had no coherent leadership structure, so negotiating with it as a state is impossible at the moment.
Iran is technically in the hands of its “supreme leader,” Mojtaba Khamenei. Khamenei, the son of longtime dictator Ali Khamenei, was announced as his successor in March. He has made no public appearances or live audio or video addresses to the country since taking over, however, leaving unclear how much authority he actually wields in the country or even if he is physically capable of political leadership.
In the younger Khamenei’s absence, President Masoud Pezeshkian — whom Ali Khamenei had kept under a tight leash — and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have dramatically increased their political leverage. Reports indicate, however, that they are struggling to control the Iranian federal government against the remaining leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, and the clerics at the top who have traditionally maintained a stranglehold on policy in the country.
Araghchi is concluding an international tour this week with stops in Oman, Pakistan, and, finally, Russia. He met with dictator Vladimir Putin, a longtime supporter of the Iranian regime, on Tuesday. Araghchi expressed gratitude to Putin and his regime on social media, sharing photos appearing to show a warm exchange with Putin.
While Araghchi locked in support from fellow rogue states, multiple reports from Iran-friendly sources on Monday suggested that Tehran had sent an offer to the United States through Pakistan for a three-step process to improve relations. The first step would be a full commitment to expand the ceasefire into an end to hostilities, regardless of the results of further negotiations. The second would be for both sides to end their restrictions on travel in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has for months threatened to attack civilian ships attempting to transit through the Strait as a way of pressuring the world into moving to stop the American and Israeli attacks. In response, President Trump ordered the U.S. Navy to implement a blockade so that Iranian and Iran-linked ships could not pass through the Strait. The result has been a significant economic crisis particularly raising the price of gasoline and other petroleum-based fuels.
The third step in the Iranian proposal, reportedly, would be to discuss a deal to limit Iran’s illicit nuclear activities, in particular uranium enrichment that is not compatible with any known civilian use. The deal would bar the United States from discussing the nuclear issue at all until it agreed not to use its military and to allow Iran to transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
The White House has not offered a definitive, public response to this proposal, nor has Iran publicly confirmed that these are the terms it offered. President Trump did hint at receiving a proposal on Tuesday, writing on his website, Truth Social, that Iranian officials were still struggling to cobble together a government.
“Iran has just informed us that they are in a ‘State of Collapse,'” the president wrote. “They want us to ‘Open the Hormuz Strait,’ as soon as possible, as they try to figure out their leadership situation (Which I believe they will be able to do!).”
Several news outlet, including Reuters and CNN, reported on Monday that the White House did receive the three-step proposal and that Trump was disinclined to accept it.
“Trump is unhappy with Iran’s proposal as he wants nuclear issues dealt with from the outset, said a U.S. official briefed on the president’s Monday meeting with his advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity,” Reuters relayed. Trump has repeatedly stated in public that forging a long-lasting nuclear agreement was his top priority, intended to prevent the need for another American military operation against Iran.
The president has also stated that negotiating with Iran is currently difficult because various factions of the government are competing for power. On April 25, announcing that he would no longer send delegations for in-person meetings with the Iranians, he lamented, “there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership,'” adding, “if they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in an interview on Monday that the White House did receive a proposal and it was “better than what we thought they were going to submit,” but did not indicate that the Trump administration was open to accepting it as it stands.
“We have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point,” he emphasized.
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