The Iran-US war is couple of weeks short from entering its fourth month. Since the war first began on February 28, thousands have killed, many others displaced and energy supplies across the globe disrupted owing to the fighting that is now paused since April 8.
While a fragile truce is in place, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between the two sides haven’t been much successful. There has been some back and forth on agreement to end the war, though the two sides only held one round of talks in Islamabad in April. Track updates on Iran US war
And now Iran has said it responded to a new US proposal aimed at ending the war, adding that diplomatic exchanges continue though the Iranian media reports have described Washington’s demands as excessive, AFP reported.
“As we announced yesterday, our concerns were conveyed to the American side,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a news briefing. Baqaei said that exchanges were “continuing through the Pakistani mediator“.
On Sunday US President Donald Trump expressed frustration with Iran and told it the “clock is ticking,” hours after drones targeted UAE’s Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi, setting off a fire.
Here are latest developments in Iran-US conflict:
Iran says US offered oil waiver
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on Monday that the US had agreed to waive sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports during the negotiation period. The oil waiver is among Tehran’s key demands to agree to a peace deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. However, the US hasn’t confirmed offering a waiver, which would be in place until a final agreement is achieved, according to Tasnim news agency.
Iran defends it demands
Iran has defended its demands, including the release of Iranian assets frozen abroad and the lifting of long-standing sanctions. “The points raised are Iranian demands that have been firmly defended by the Iranian negotiating team in every round of negotiations,” Baqaei was quoted as saying. As Baqaei dubbed the conflict as illegal and baseless, he also defended an Iranian stipulation that the US pay war reparations.
Pak shares revised Iran proposal with US
As Baqaei said that its concerns were conveyed to the US by Pakistan, a Reuters report, citing Pakistani sources, said that Pakistan has shared with Washington a revised proposal from Iran to end the conflict in the Middle East.
“We don’t have much time,” the source was quoted as saying, adding that both countries “keep changing their goalposts”.
US proposal on one operational nuclear site
Iran’s Fars news agency earlier said Washington had presented a five-point list, which included a demand for Iran to keep only one nuclear site in operation and transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to the United States.
Oil prices ease after US sanctions waiver report
The reports of US waiving off Iran sanctions led to a decline in oil prices on Monday. Brent retreated near $108, having earlier risen as much as 2.5%, according to Bloomberg. The war has caused global energy crisis as oil has risen almost 50% since the US and Israel first attacked Iran at the end of February. Subdued flows through the Strait of Hormuz have crippled the supplies from Persian Gulf producers. Prices have been extremely volatile, however, with steep drops at times when peace seemed more likely.
Energy facilities were majorly impacted during the fighting between March and April.
