According to US officials, the latest proposal President Donald Trump sent to Tehran included allowing Iran to downblend its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium.
Axios reported speaking with US officials who said that Trump asked for two amendments to a proposal that Tehran sent to Washington in late May. The conditions included Tehran downblending its stockpile of enriched uranium inside Iran and the removal of tolls on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the officials, Tehran did not respond to the proposal.
Trump’s proposal suggests a significant walkback from his initial demands to Iran. At the start of the war, he called on Tehran to eliminate its uranium enrichment program and to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to the US. Trump’s proposal said the downblending must occur in 60 days and under the supervision of the international nuclear watchdog.
Allowing Iran to downblend the uranium suggests Washington is prepared to allow Tehran to maintain its enrichment program. Additionally, the proposal appears close to Iran’s prior offer to downblend its 60% enriched uranium in exchange for sanctions relief.
The US official explained that Trump was not offering immediate sanctions relief, but that Iranian assets would be unfrozen if Tehran complied with the agreement.
Iranian officials may be unwilling to accept Trump’s latest proposal over the demand to remove tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran seized control of the waterway during the war and said it would impose fees on vessels transiting it after the war.
Sources speaking with Axios said that Iran’s failure to respond to the proposal angered Trump. On Tuesday, Trump announced that a US Apache helicopter was downed over the Strait of Hormuz, and ordered the Pentagon to strike targets across Iran.
On Wednesday, he said the US would continue to “hit them hard.” The sources said Trump believes the strikes will give him leverage over Tehran in negotiations.
