DUBAI, May 19 (Reuters) – Tehran’s latest peace proposals to the United States include an end to hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon, the withdrawal of U.S. troops from areas close to Iran and compensation for damage caused by the U.S.-Israeli war, state media reported on Tuesday.
In Tehran’s first comments on the proposal, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Garibaldi said Tehran also seeks to lift sanctions, release frozen funds and end the U.S. naval blockade of the country, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
The terms described in the Iranian report represent few changes from Iran’s previous proposal, which U.S. President Donald Trump rejected last week as “junk.”
Trump said on Monday that a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program was now “very likely” after he paused plans to resume attacks on Iran after Tehran made a new peace proposal to Washington.
Reuters could not determine whether preparations were ready for an attack, which would mark a repeat of the war Trump began in late February.
Under pressure to reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key supply route for global supplies of oil and other commodities, Trump has previously expressed hope for a deal to end the conflict and has similarly threatened to crack down on Iran if Tehran fails to reach a deal.
In a social media post, Trump said the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates asked him to delay the attack because “an agreement will be reached that is acceptable to the United States and all countries in the Middle East and beyond.”
Later on Monday, he told reporters that the United States would be satisfied if a deal could be reached with Iran that would prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“It seems very likely that they’ll be able to work something out. If we could do that without bombing them, I’d be very happy,” Trump told reporters.
Pakistani sources confirmed that Islamabad has been communicating messages between the two sides since hosting the only round of peace talks last month and has shared Iran’s proposal with Washington.
Pakistani sources said both sides were “constantly moving the goalposts”, adding: “We don’t have much time.”
mixed signal
While neither side has publicly disclosed any concessions in talks that have been deadlocked for a month, senior Iranian officials said on Monday that Washington might soften some of its demands.
The United States has agreed to release a quarter of Iran’s frozen funds held in foreign banks, totaling tens of billions of dollars, sources said. Iran wants all assets released.
Sources say Washington has shown greater flexibility in agreeing to let Iran continue some peaceful nuclear activities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The United States has not confirmed it has agreed to anything in the talks.
An unnamed U.S. official denied a report by Iran’s Tasnim news agency that Washington had agreed to waive oil sanctions on Iran while negotiations were ongoing.
A ceasefire was suspended in early April after U.S. and Israeli bombings killed thousands in Iran. Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in pursuit of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia has killed thousands and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes. Iranian attacks on Israel and neighboring Gulf states have killed dozens.
The ceasefire in Iran has largely held despite recent drone launches by Iran and its allies from Iraq into Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say they launched the war to curb Iran’s support for regional militias, dismantle its nuclear program, destroy its missile capabilities and create conditions for the Iranians to overthrow their rulers.
But the war has not yet deprived Iran of its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium or its ability to threaten its neighbors with missiles, drones and proxy militias.
The Islamic Republic’s clerical leadership faced a massive uprising at the start of the year, but they withstood superpower attacks without any sign of organized opposition.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Stephen Coates; Editing by Peter Graf)