The officials said the White House would likely make a counterproposal in the coming days.<\/p>\n
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said in response to the reports that the US \u201cwill not negotiate through the press\u201d and has \u201cbeen clear about our red lines,\u201d while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said<\/a> in a Monday interview that Iran\u2019s proposal was unacceptable.<\/p>\n Rubio\u2019s statement came after Axios reported that Iran had proposed an agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war, while delaying negotiations on Tehran\u2019s nuclear program for a later stage.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition \t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n In a separate report<\/a>, the Wall Street Journal said Iran was seeking to avoid a costly oil production shutdown, and has resorted to delivering barrels of crude by rail or holding them in \u201cjunk storage\u201d sites because its oil shipping has cratered since the US imposed a blockade on it on April 13.<\/p>\n \t At least six tankers loaded with Iranian oil have been forced back to Iran by the US blockade in recent days, ship-tracking data showed, underscoring the war\u2019s impact on traffic.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Iran\u2019s oil inventories have grown more than tenfold, from 4.6 million barrels before the war to some 49 million, out of a maximum capacity of 95 million, the Wall Street Journal said, citing the Kpler energy data firm.<\/p>\n Analysts cited by the Journal said Iran could run out of space to store crude in less than two weeks.<\/p>\n The US imposed its blockade five days into a truce that had been conditioned on Tehran lifting its own blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian blockade effectively choked off the waterway, which normally carries some 20 percent of the world\u2019s energy shipments.<\/p>\n \t Iran\u2019s blockade began soon after the US and Israel launched the war on February 28 in a bid to destabilize Iran\u2019s regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.<\/p>\n The war has caused a sharp rise in energy prices worldwide and intensified the rift among Trump\u2019s supporters, many of whom are leery of US intervention abroad.<\/p>\n US Vice President JD Vance, an erstwhile critic of American adventurism overseas, has in private expressed concern that the war was depleting US weapons stockpiles as well as skepticism of the rosy picture that the Pentagon has given Trump of the war in Iran, The Atlantic<\/a> reported Monday, citing unnamed administration officials and advisers to Vance.<\/p>\n \t Hopes of reviving peace efforts have receded since Trump on Saturday scrapped<\/a> a visit by his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to mediator Pakistan, where Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shuttled in and out twice during the weekend.<\/p>\n Senior Iranian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters Araghchi presented a proposal in Islamabad that envisioned talks in stages, with the nuclear issue to be set aside at the start.<\/p>\n A first step would require ending the war and providing guarantees that the fighting could not start up again. Then negotiators would resolve the US naval blockade and the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran aims to reopen under its control. Only then would talks look at other issues, including Iran\u2019s uranium enrichment, which Iran demands to continue and the US seeks to end.<\/p>\n Though Iran, whose leaders are sworn to destroy Israel, denies seeking nuclear arms, it has enriched uranium to levels with no peaceful application and obstructed international oversight of nuclear facilities. Washington has said nuclear issues must be dealt with from the outset.<\/p>\n The path forward for negotiations remains unclear. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled on Monday that Iran was not desperate for talks. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday that Iran was \u201chumiliating\u201d the US in the drama surrounding the talks.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tUS forces patrol the Arabian Sea near M\/V Touska, April 20, 2026, after the Iranian-flagged vessel attempted to violate the US naval blockade (US Navy photo)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AFP__20260424__A8WE3VC__v1__HighRes__IranUsIsraelWar-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tAn Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boat allegedly takes part in an operation to seize ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, on April 21, 2026. (MIRZADEH via the Iranian news agency TASNIM NEWS, via AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26113774220463-e1776983195817-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump speaks as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, and Vice President JD Vance listen in the Oval Office at the White House, April 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP\/Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n
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