Indirect talks are reportedly under way with Qatar as mediator, while Iran has a delegation in New York for the UN General Assembly.
Late Monday evening, US Eastern Time, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said that Qatari mediators had presented proposals that were being discussed.
They will raise the matter with the American side once again, after which the US's final response will be conveyed to us, he said, according to AFP.
“Some conditions”
Talks to end the war after eight months are in full swing, a number of sources in different camps tell AP. But they admit that major sticking points remain. According to Abbas Araghchi, the mediators hope that everything “will be clear tomorrow (Tuesday).” The Iranian delegation is said to begin its journey home to Tehran during the day.
Iran is willing to open the Strait of Hormuz provided that “certain conditions” are met.
According to reports over the weekend, Iran is demanding that the US begin lifting sanctions on the country and its oil industry, as well as ending the naval blockade that has been established in the Persian Gulf in response to Iran's restrictions on traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. There was also talk that Iran wanted to release multi-billion dollar assets that the US is holding frozen.
It is also planned that a week-long ceasefire will prevail in all conflict zones in the Middle East, including in Lebanon where Israeli forces have advanced in battles against Iran-allied Hezbollah.
“Offered nothing”
The news site Axios, which often has sources in or around the Trump administration in the US, has reported that the president is willing to lift sanctions and release some assets. The site's reporter interviewed Donald Trump by phone as recently as Sunday, but Trump sharply denies the new source information that he might consider meeting Iran.
"That's not true. I offered them NOTHING," the US president writes in a post demanding that Axios retract the article.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz described it this weekend as Iran having submitted a proposal fully aware that it is unacceptable. Iran has warned that the country is ready for continued war if that happens.
The initial announcement that the US had rejected the proposal caused oil prices to rise again, demonstrating the grip that Iran has taken on the global economy, with consequences at gas pumps in the US ahead of the midterm elections this fall.
