US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has indicated that US and Iranian negotiators have ‘a pretty solid thing on the table,’ suggesting a potential deal to end the conflict between the two nations could be reached as early as Monday.<\/p>\n
“We’re still a work in progress,” Rubio stated during a visit to India. His remarks followed President Donald Trump’s instruction to negotiators ‘not to rush into a deal,’ despite earlier suggestions that an agreement was imminent.<\/p>\n
Key Elements of the Proposed Deal:<\/b>
\nReports suggest the agreement includes a 60-day ceasefire extension, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a framework for future negotiations concerning Iran’s nuclear program. Hopes of an agreement led to a sharp fall in oil prices and a rise in Asian stock markets on Monday.<\/p>\n
“We’re still a work in progress. As I said, you know, we thought we might have some news last night. Maybe today,” Rubio reiterated in Delhi, India’s capital. He added, “So we have, what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the Straits,” referring to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes and which has experienced transit disruptions during the conflict.<\/p>\n
Rubio cautioned against over-interpreting the situation, noting, “it takes a little while to hear back from Iran.” CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported that US intelligence believes Iran’s supreme leader, reportedly injured in an Israeli strike at the war’s outset, is in an undisclosed location, complicating communication with envoys and potentially slowing the talks.<\/p>\n
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, commented over the weekend that both sides were simultaneously ‘very close and very far’ from an agreement. US media reports indicate the proposed deal is not a final settlement, leaving contentious issues such as the scope and timing of Iranian sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian funds, and Washington’s demands for Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions for later negotiation.<\/p>\n
Political Divisions and Presidential Stance:<\/b>
\nThe reported deal has caused divisions among Trump’s Republicans, with some publicly expressing concerns that it is too lenient on Iran. Senator Ted Cruz labeled it ‘a disastrous mistake,’ while Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, argued that a 60-day ceasefire would negate ‘everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury.’ Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, also criticized any deal that might allow Iran to be perceived as a dominant regional force, questioning the initial reasons for the conflict.<\/p>\n
President Trump dismissed critics, stating he did not ‘listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about.’ He affirmed on Truth Social, ‘If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one.’<\/p>\n
The conflict began on February 28 with wide-ranging strikes on Iran by the US and Israel, escalating tensions across the Middle East. Iran responded by targeting Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf, which led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a global surge in oil prices. Following a ceasefire in early April, the US imposed a blockade on Iranian ports, which Trump has stated will remain ‘in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.’<\/p>\n
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran, the UAE, and Oman, is approximately 21 miles (33 km) at its narrowest point. It connects the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, making it a vital global shipping route. Annually, about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, including supplies from Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, typically transits through this strait. In 2025, an estimated 20 million barrels of oil per day, valued at nearly $600 billion (\u00a3447 billion) in energy trade, passed through the waterway, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).<\/p>\n
President Trump reiterated on Truth Social that Iran ‘must understand’ it cannot develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran consistently maintains that its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes. US media reports suggest the potential deal could involve Iran agreeing to eventually transfer its highly enriched uranium. At the conflict’s commencement, Iran was believed to possess approximately 440kg (970 lbs) of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a level considered a short step from weapons-grade 90%, which could theoretically enable the creation of a nuclear bomb.<\/p>\n
#IranDeal #USDiplomacy #MiddleEastPeace #StraitOfHormuz #NuclearNegotiations #Ceasefire #OilPrices #GlobalSecurity #TrumpAdministration #InternationalRelations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Potential Breakthrough in Iran Negotiations US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has indicated that US and Iranian negotiators have ‘a pretty solid thing on the table,’ suggesting a potential deal to end the conflict between the two nations could be reached as early as Monday. “We’re still a work in progress,” Rubio stated during a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}