Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters on Friday that Iran plans to make a proposal aimed at meeting U.S. demands and that Pakistan is expected to resume peace talks.
“They’re making offers and we’ll have to wait and see,” Trump said in a phone interview.
Trump said he didn’t yet know what the offer was. He has maintained that any deal would include Iran giving up its uranium enrichment and allowing free oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to travel to the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday for talks with the Iranian delegation.
Trump expressed concern on Thursday about who is leading Iran, and U.S. officials said they believed the leadership was divided.
Asked on Friday who the United States was negotiating with, Trump said: “I hate to say it, but we’re dealing with the people in charge right now.”
He declined to provide a name.
Reuters earlier reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was expected to discuss proposals to restart peace talks with the United States in Islamabad on Friday.
Trump insisted that the U.S. military would maintain a blockade of Iranian ports until a deal was reached.
Asked what it would take to lift the lockdown, Trump said: “I’ll have to answer that later. I’ll have to see what they offer.”
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Katherine Jackson; Editing by Michelle Nichols, Rod Nichols)