"I think it (the war) has a very good chance of ending, and if it doesn't end, we'll have to go back to bombing the crap out of them," President Donald Trump told PBS on Wednesday.
According to sources spoken to by the news site Axios and the news agency Bloomberg, the "declaration of intent" consists of 14 points developed by the United States. Iran is expected to submit a response within two days, sources say.
"There is no agreement yet, but sources say this is the closest the parties have come to a settlement since the war began," writes Axios.
At the same time, Bloomberg's source emphasizes that nothing concrete has been agreed yet, but the 14-point list is intended to be the start of more detailed negotiations. In parallel with the talks, the Strait of Hormuz will be gradually opened, and an agreement will be reached on how US sanctions against Iran can be lifted.
“Unrealistic”
Everything could be withdrawn if an agreement on Iran's nuclear energy program is not reached at a later stage in the negotiations, according to the source.
However, Iranian pro-regime state media have described the US media reports as "false," "exaggerated," and "unrealistic." Official sources nevertheless admit that Iran has received a proposal from Pakistani mediators that is now being reviewed.
Nuclear energy is not being discussed at all at this stage, a spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry told the pro-regime news agency ISNA.
Pauses operation
Earlier, Trump announced that the US effort to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz, Project Freedom, would be paused after just two days to provide the best possible conditions for an agreement. According to Trump, the decision was made after pressure from, among others, the mediating country Pakistan.
"With the attackers' threats stopped and new protocols in place, safe, stable passages through the Strait of Hormuz will be guaranteed," the Revolutionary Guards Navy responded in a statement on X, without specifying in detail what the new procedures entail.
A couple of hours later, US forces shot off the rudder of an Iranian-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, according to the US military command Centcom.
The tanker was said to have been en route to an Iranian port and the US accused it of trying to break the US naval blockade, which according to Centcom is still being enforced with "full force".
