Iran Confirms Receipt of U.S. Response as Peace Talks Stall
CNBC reported Sunday that Iran has received Washington’s response to its latest bid to end a war that has rattled global energy markets and stoked recession fears.
Tehran said the American reply was transmitted through Pakistan. Iranian officials confirmed they are now studying the response. Neither Washington nor Islamabad publicly confirmed the exchange.
A Proposal Washington Seems Unlikely to Accept
Iran’s 14-point plan, submitted last Thursday, would defer nuclear discussions to a later negotiating phase. The offer also calls for a mutual lifting of competing Gulf shipping blockades, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from surrounding areas, sanctions relief, and compensation payments.
That sequencing puts Tehran directly at odds with Washington’s core demand. The White House has repeatedly insisted Iran agree to strict nuclear restrictions before any war can end. The U.S. wants Iran to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, estimated at over 400 kilograms, which American officials say is sufficient material for a nuclear weapon.
Iran maintains its nuclear activities are entirely civilian in nature. It has expressed willingness to accept some limits in exchange for sanctions relief, a position it held under the 2015 nuclear agreement that President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term.
Background: A War With No Ceasefire in Sight
The U.S. and Israel paused their bombing campaign against Iran roughly four weeks ago. One round of preliminary talks followed, but subsequent attempts to schedule further meetings have collapsed. Iran’s latest proposal represents what a senior Iranian official described as a meaningful concession, designed to simplify early-stage negotiations by removing the most contentious issue from the opening agenda.
Trump indicated over the weekend he had not yet reviewed the proposal’s precise language. He told reporters he was still considering it, but wrote on social media that he could not imagine accepting terms from a country that had not, in his words, paid a large enough price for decades of hostility.
Markets Watching Hormuz as Midterms Loom
The conflict’s most immediate economic consequence is the near-total blockade of Gulf shipping lanes, which has choked off roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies. U.S. gasoline prices have climbed as a result. Iran has restricted almost all non-Iranian vessels from transiting the Gulf for more than two months. Washington responded last month with its own counter-blockade targeting ships from Iranian ports.
The political stakes for Trump are sharpening. His Republican Party faces midterm congressional elections in November, and sustained fuel-price pain risks provoking voter backlash before polls open.
Trump, when asked whether renewed strikes on Iran remained possible, declined to rule it out.
Read Next: Oil Markets Brace as Gulf Shipping Disruptions Deepen
