CAIRO: Iran is offering to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz without addressing its nuclear programme, two regional officials with knowledge of the proposal said Monday, as the country's foreign minister made a visit to Russia, which he said was an opportunity to consult with Moscow regarding the war against Israel and the United States.
Iran also wants the US to end its blockade of the country as part of its proposal, said the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.
The new proposal, passed to the United States by Pakistan, likely won't be supported by US President Donald Trump, who wants to end Iran's atomic programme as part of an overall deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and make the ceasefire permanent.
“We have all the cards. If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us,” Trump said Sunday to Fox News Channel.
The Axios news outlet first reported Iran's proposal.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi landed in St. Petersburg on Monday morning ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. His trip over the weekend has included two stops in Pakistan and a visit to Oman, which shares the strait with Iran.
Araghchi's visit comes as a standoff between Iran and the US in the crucial Strait of Hormuz persists despite a ceasefire, keeping oil prices high.
“It is a good opportunity for us to consult with our Russian friends about the developments that have occurred in relation to the war during this period and what is happening now,” Araghchi said in a video interview posted by IRNA.
Both sides have continued to make military threats. Iran's joint military command Saturday warned that “if the US continues its aggressive military actions, including naval blockades, banditry, and piracy”, it will face a “strong response.”
Trump last week ordered the military to “shoot and kill” small boats that could be placing mines in the waterway.
Trump told journalists Saturday that within 10 minutes of his cancelling Witkoff and Kushner's trip to Islamabad, Iran sent a “much better” proposal.
He did not elaborate but stressed that one of his conditions is that Iran “will not have a nuclear weapon.” The status of Iran's enriched uranium has long been at the centre of tensions. Tehran has 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels, according to the UN nuclear watchdog agency.
Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,509 people in Lebanon, where the Israel-Hezbollah fighting resumed two days after the Iran war started. Another 23 people have been killed in Israel, and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, 13 US service members in the region and six UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been killed.
Another ceasefire — between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant Hezbollah group — has been extended by three weeks. Hezbollah has not participated in the Washington-brokered diplomacy.