Stalemate on a deal with Iran

Defense &National Security

Defense &National Security

Stalemate on a deal with Iran

The Trump administration continues to pour cold water on a reported proposal by Iran that would end the two-month conflict with the U.S. and Israel and reopen the Strait of Hormuz but postpone discussions on its nuclear program.

Tehran offered to loosen its grip on the strait in exchange for the U.S. ending its naval blockade, two regional officials told The Associated Press, with talks about the country’s nuclear program deferred to a later date.   

Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to dismiss any deal that did not include concessions from the Iranian regime on its nuclear capabilities, arguing in an interview Monday that the “nuclear question is the reason why we’re in this in the first place.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that at some point in the future, if this radical clerical regime remain in charge in Iran, they will decide they want a nuclear weapon,” he told Fox News’s Trey Yingst. “That fundamental issue still has to be confronted. That still remains the core issue here.”

President Trump also signaled unhappiness with Tehran’s initial proposal over the weekend. He told reporters, after he canceled a U.S. delegation’s trip to Pakistan for what was supposed to be another round of indirect talks to end hostilities, that the Iranians “gave us a paper that should have been better.”

“And interesting, immediately, when I canceled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better,” Trump said, according to Bloomberg.

The Trump administration justified the launch of initial strikes in late February by insisting that Iran was close to obtaining a nuclear weapon and posed an imminent threat to national security, claims officials in the Islamic Republic have defiantly rejected.

“We can’t let them get away with it,” Rubio said Monday. “They’re very good negotiators. They’re very experienced negotiators, and we have to........

© The Hill