Tehran has sent its latest proposal for negotiations with the United States to Pakistani mediators, Iranian state news agency IRNA said on Friday, a move that could improve prospects for breaking an impasse in efforts to end the Iran war.
IRNA gave no details but global oil prices, which have risen sharply since Iran started a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, dropped after its report.
The blockade of the vital sea channel has choked off 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies, and the US Navy is blocking exports of Iranian crude oil. This has pushed up energy prices and increased concerns that there will be an economic downturn.
A ceasefire has been in place since April 8 but reports that US President Donald Trump was to be briefed on plans for new military strikes to compel Iran to negotiate had pushed global oil prices up to a four-year high at one point on Thursday.
Iran has activated air defences and plans a wide response if attacked, having assessed that there will be a short, intensive US strike, possibly followed by an Israeli attack, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has told reporters that he is not satisfied with Iran’s latest proposal for resolving the conflict and that negotiations were taking place by phone, Reuters reports.
“In terms of the negotiation, telephonically. They’ve (Iran) made strides, but I’m not sure if they’ll ever get there,” he tells reporters.
“There’s tremendous discord; they’re having a tremendous problem getting along with each other in Iran. The leadership is very disjointed – it’s got two to three groups, maybe four.
“It’s a very disjointed leadership and, with that being said, they all want to make a deal, but they’re all messed up,” Trump added.
Moreover, Trump said, “I have great respect for Pakistan and for the field marshal and the prime minister.”
Asked about his options regarding Iran, US President Donald Trump says he has a choice between pursuing a deal or resuming military strikes.
“Right now we have negotiations going on, but they’re not going anywhere,” he tells reporters. “Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever, or do we want to try and make a deal? I mean, those are the options”
Asked if he wants to resume strikes, Trump says, “On a human basis, I’d prefer not.”
Trump suggested he will not seek Congressional authorisation for military action in Iran under the War Powers Resolution, describing those calling for it as “not patriotic”, Al Jazeera reports.
Arguing against the need for authorisation under the law, which requires a US president to seek approval within 60 days of deploying troops, Trump says, “many presidents… have gone and exceeded it. It’s never been used.
“Most people consider it totally unconstitutional,” Trump added. “Also, we had a ceasefire, so that gives you additional time … We’re in the midst of a big victory.”
“I’m not happy with Italy, and I’m not happy with Spain. They feel it’s ok for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Anybody that feels it’s ok for Iran to have a nuclear weapon is not very smart.”
He threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy and Spain, a day after saying he was looking at reducing the number deployed in Germany.
Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said he did “not understand” Trump’s motives for the threat with both prime ministers not offering any immediate response to the US president’s comments
On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei cautioned against expecting quick results from talks.
A senior official of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said any new US attack on Iran, even if limited, would usher in “long and painful strikes” on US regional positions, while Aerospace Force Commander Majid Mousavi was quoted by Iranian media as saying: “We’ve seen what happened to your regional bases, we will see the same thing happen to your warships.”
Trump repeated on Thursday that Iran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, and said the price of gasoline – an important concern for his Republican Party before midterm elections in November – would “drop like a rock” as soon as the war ended.
Iran says its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes.
Baghaei took to social media on Friday to rebuke the US for its war of “aggression” and challenge Washington’s own narrative that its attacks on Iran were a case of “self-defence”, according to Al Jazeera.
In a post on X, Baghaei highlights a US State Department document justifying the war, which stated that: “The United States engaged in this conflict at the request of and in the collective self-defence of its Israeli ally, as well as in the exercise of the United States’ own inherent right of self-defence”.
“Self-defence against what?” Baghaei asks.
“Was there any ‘armed attack’ by Iran to justify ‘self-defence’? Definitely not!”
“So this was absolutely NOT ‘self-defence’ – it was an act of AGGRESSION against the nation of Iran.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the “Pentagon is lying” about the economic cost of the war, launched by the Trump administration on February 28 alongside Netanyahu, according to Al Jazeera.
The conflict has aggravated Iran’s dire economic problems, risking calamity after the war, but it looks able to survive a standoff in the Gulf for now, despite the US blockade that has cut off its energy exports.