Iran is expected to respond to the latest US proposal to end the war on Thursday, it has been reported, as Donald Trump declared the two nations had “very good” talks.
A one-page 14-point plan has been shared with Iran via Pakistani mediators, a person familiar with the document told ITV News’ partner CNN.
If agreed to, the memorandum would trigger a 30-day negotiating period, during which both sides can hash out key issues like nuclear capacity and future passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the person said.
It also includes a ban on Iran enriching uranium for ten years, a time length that has been brought down from 20 years during the course of negotiating so-far, the source added.
It comes after Trump said on Wednesday the US had had “very good talks” with Iran over the 24 hours previous, and insisted there was “never a deadline” for the nation to respond to the latest proposal.
“We’re in good shape. Now we’re doing well, and we have to get what we have to get,” Trump said from the Oval Office.
“If we don’t do that, we’ll have to go a big step further. But with that being said, they want to make a deal.”
The US president also claimed that Iran had agreed to not have a nuclear weapon, “among other things”, but did not give further details.
A two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran was agreed on April 7, and later extended indefinitely on April 21.
However the US has blocked Iranian ports since April 13, in response to the Strait of Hormuz being almost entirely closed by the regime since the war began.
The US military said on Wednesday it had attacked an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman for breaching the blockade.
US Central Command said an American fighter jet shot out the rudder of the Iran-flagged tanker after it was issued multiple warnings to stop.
At the same time, Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time since a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was announced on April 17.
Fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group has continued since the ceasefire, but mostly in southern Lebanon.
Rescue workers could be seen searching through the rubble of a destroyed building in Beirut on Thursday morning.
More than 2,500 have died in Lebanon since fighting began March 2, two days after Israel and the US launched their offensive on Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office claimed Wednesday’s strike, which came without warning, targeted a commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force.
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