Trump says Iran has a proposal from the US on its rapidly advancing nuclear program
ABU DHABI United Arab Emirates AP U S President Donald Trump explained Friday that Iran has an American proposal over its rapidly advancing nuclear campaign as negotiations between the two countries go on Trump s remarks represent the first time he s acknowledged an American proposal is with Tehran after multiple rounds of negotiations between U S Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi Negotiations have gotten into the expert level meaning the two sides are trying to see if they can reach any agreement on the details of any practicable deal But one major sticking point remains Iran s enrichment of uranium which Tehran insists it must be allowed to do and the Trump administration increasingly insists the Islamic Republic must give up Trump discusses proposal on Air Force One Trump made the comment aboard Air Force One as he ended his trip to the United Arab Emirates the last stop on his three-nation tour of the Middle East that also included Saudi Arabia and Qatar At nearly every event he attended in the region he insisted that Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear bomb something American intelligence agencies assess Tehran is not actively pursuing though its venture is on the cusp of being able to weaponize A reporter sought Trump On Iran has the U S given them a formal proposal Has Steve Witkoff handed that over They have a proposal Trump responded But majority importantly they know they have to move fleetly or something bad is going to happen Trump did not elaborate on the substance of the proposal and Iran did not directly acknowledge having it On Thursday Araghchi spoke to journalists at the Tehran International Book Fair and mentioned that Iran did not have any proposal from the Americans yet Araghchi also criticized what he called conflicting and inconsistent statements from the Trump administration describing them as either a sign of disarray in Washington or a calculated negotiation strategy Witkoff at one point suggested that Iran could enrich uranium at then later began saying that all Iranian enrichment must stop Friday night Araghchi wrote on the social platform X Iran has not received any written proposal from the United States whether directly or indirectly In the meantime the messaging we and the world continue to receive is confusing and contradictory he added Mark my words there is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to enrichment for peaceful purposes Talks have been held in Oman and Rome Iranian and American leaders have been in Oman and Rome for the negotiations invariably mediated by Oman s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi a trusted interlocutor between the two nations The talks seek to limit Iran s nuclear effort in exchange for the lifting of a few of the crushing economic sanctions the U S has imposed on the Islamic Republic closing in on half a century of enmity Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran s scheme if a deal isn t reached Iranian administrators increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels Meanwhile Israel has threatened to strike Iran s nuclear facilities on their own if it feels threatened further complicating tensions in the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip
