{"id":941621,"date":"2026-05-06T13:37:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/941621\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T13:37:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:37:20","slug":"has-the-us-accepted-irans-demand-to-settle-hormuz-first-nuclear-later-us-israel-war-on-iran-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/941621\/","title":{"rendered":"Has the US accepted Iran\u2019s demand to settle Hormuz first, nuclear later? | US-Israel war on Iran News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013<\/strong> On Monday morning, the United States Navy began escorting commercial vessels<\/a> through the Strait of Hormuz. By Tuesday afternoon, the operation had been paused<\/a>.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump announced the reversal on Truth Social, citing the \u201crequest of Pakistan and other Countries\u201d and \u201cgreat progress\u201d towards a \u201ccomplete and final agreement\u201d with Iran.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

Earlier on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that Operation Epic Fury, the air and naval campaign launched on February 28, was \u201cconcluded\u201d.<\/p>\n

What Washington now sought, he said, was a \u201cmemorandum of understanding for future negotiations\u201d.<\/p>\n

For weeks, that is precisely what Iran has been demanding.<\/p>\n

In proposals passed on to the US through Pakistan, Iran has in recent weeks sought multistage negotiations, with a preliminary deal aimed at ending the war, and negotiations on the White House\u2019s demands that Tehran end its nuclear programme pushed for later.<\/p>\n

Trump and his administration resisted, with the US president insisting that getting Iran to give up its nuclear programme was central to any deal with Tehran.<\/p>\n

Now, the US appears to have come around to accepting Iran\u2019s demand, say experts. On Wednesday, the Reuters news agency and the US publication Axios reported that the US and Iran were close to agreeing to a one-page MoU to end the war, even though there have been no detailed negotiations on Tehran\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n

Seyed Mojtaba Jalalzadeh, an international relations analyst based in Tehran, said the week\u2019s diplomatic signals reflected a sober reassessment in Washington of what was achievable.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving towards a memorandum of understanding, a framework for future talks, is a good, viable and important first step to solve the immediate problem,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Shift amid fraying ceasefire<\/p>\n

Pakistani officials close to the country\u2019s efforts to mediate peace between the US and Iran told Al Jazeera that Islamabad\u2019s role as an intermediary had intensified in recent days, with senior officials in direct communication with both sides. Details of those exchanges remain closely held.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday afternoon in Islamabad, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif responded to Trump\u2019s announcement of the pause in the operation to open the Strait of Hormuz, naming Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a partner who prodded the US president to suspend the military mission in the waterway.<\/p>\n

Pakistan, Sharif wrote on social media, was \u201cvery hopeful that the current momentum will lead to a lasting agreement that secures durable peace and stability for the region and beyond\u201d.<\/p>\n

Just 24 hours earlier, that optimism would have appeared misplaced.<\/p>\n

Since the weekend, an already fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran appeared to be fraying.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly launched missiles and drones<\/a> at the United Arab Emirates on Monday and Tuesday, the first such attacks since the April 8 truce<\/a>. An oil facility in Fujairah was struck, wounding three Indian workers. Iran denied involvement.<\/p>\n

The US and Iran each claimed they had hit the other\u2019s ships, and each denied the other\u2019s claims of success.<\/p>\n

Washington, however, declined to escalate. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine said the incidents remained \u201call below the threshold of restarting major combat operations\u201d. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the ceasefire \u201ccertainly holds\u201d.<\/p>\n

Has Washington blinked?<\/p>\n

The central question is whether the US has, implicitly, accepted Iran\u2019s core demand: end the war and settle the Strait of Hormuz first, with the nuclear programme to follow.<\/p>\n

\"SecretaryUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio gestures at the White House in Washington, DC, May 5, 2026 [Mark Schiefelbein\/AP Photo]<\/p>\n

Rubio\u2019s Tuesday briefing suggests a sharp departure from Washington\u2019s initial position.<\/p>\n

At the outset, the US outlined four objectives: destroy Iran\u2019s ballistic missile capabilities, dismantle its navy, sever support for armed proxies, and ensure Iran never obtained a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n

A 15-point proposal delivered to Tehran via Pakistan in late March went further. It called for dismantling nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, handing over highly enriched uranium to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and permanently prohibiting nuclear weapons development.<\/p>\n

By contrast, Rubio declared the military phase over. Nuclear material, he said, \u201chas to be addressed\u201d and is \u201cbeing addressed in the negotiation\u201d, but he declined to elaborate.<\/p>\n

What Washington now seeks is an MoU, a framework defining \u201cthe topics that they\u2019ve agreed to negotiate on\u201d and \u201cthe concessions they are willing to make at the front end\u201d.<\/p>\n

That marks a significant shift from March.<\/p>\n

In early April, he warned that \u201ca whole civilisation will die tonight\u201d if Iran did not yield. This week, he called for an agreement to be \u201cfinalised and signed\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rubio also offered a revised account of the campaign\u2019s outcomes, arguing it had destroyed the \u201cconventional shield\u201d behind which Iran concealed its nuclear programme.<\/p>\n

The framing sidesteps the question of enriched uranium still buried underground and effectively redefines the war\u2019s purpose.<\/p>\n

The shift has not gone unnoticed in Tehran. When Trump launched Project Freedom<\/a> \u2014 the mission aimed at escorting stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz \u2014\u00a0on Sunday, Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that \u201cthere\u2019s no military solution to a political crisis\u201d, calling it \u201cProject Deadlock\u201d. Within 48 hours, it was paused.<\/p>\n

Jalalzadeh said the reversal reflected a reality Washington had been slow to acknowledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe balance of deterrence is currently skewed in Iran\u2019s favour, and I think this reality is slowly sinking in in Washington,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Andreas Krieg, associate professor at King\u2019s College London\u2019s School of Security Studies, described the shift as a limited but meaningful concession.<\/p>\n

\u201cWashington has accepted that the simultaneous resolution of the war, Hormuz, and the nuclear file in one final package is not currently feasible,\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cDiplomatically, this is a concession to Tehran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaps that remain<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s position has remained consistent.<\/p>\n

After submitting a 14-point proposal<\/a> to Pakistan on April 30, later transmitted to Washington and described by Trump as \u201cbetter\u201d than expected, Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei made the sequencing explicit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this stage, we do not have nuclear negotiations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The proposal calls for ending the war within 30 days, lifting the US naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets, paying reparations, removing sanctions and establishing a new mechanism governing the Strait of Hormuz. Nuclear talks are deferred.<\/p>\n

Iran received a US response via Pakistan on Sunday. Neither side has disclosed its contents.<\/p>\n

Significant gaps remain. Rubio made clear that Washington\u2019s definition of \u201copening the strait\u201d diverges from Tehran\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder no circumstances can we live in a world where we accept that this is normal, that you have to coordinate with Iran, you have to pay them a toll in order to go through the Straits of Hormuz,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"INTERACTIVE<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s proposal, however, calls for a \u201cnew mechanism governing the strait\u201d, language Washington is likely to interpret as precisely such an arrangement.<\/p>\n

Jalalzadeh said Hormuz remains the most unresolved issue, not only between the two sides but within Iran itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither side has a good offer on the table because even the Iranians do not yet know how they want to administer it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The diplomatic clock<\/p>\n

Still, several deadlines are now converging, and none favours any delay.<\/p>\n

Araghchi arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his first visit to China since the war began in February.<\/p>\n

He said, according to Iran\u2019s state-affiliated ISNA news agency, Tehran would \u201conly accept a fair and comprehensive agreement\u201d in negotiations with the US.<\/p>\n

The trip comes eight days before Trump\u2019s scheduled summit with President Xi Jinping on May 14 and 15. US officials have openly pressed China to lean on Tehran to open up the strait.<\/p>\n

But Beijing\u2019s willingness to act as a pressure mechanism on Iran is constrained by its own confrontation with Washington, say analysts.<\/p>\n

Last week, China\u2019s Ministry of Commerce ordered domestic companies to defy US sanctions on five Chinese oil refineries buying Iranian crude oil, invoking for the first time a law allowing Beijing to retaliate against what it considers unlawful foreign sanctions.<\/p>\n

China absorbed more than 80 percent of Iran\u2019s shipped oil in 2025, according to analytics firm Kpler.<\/p>\n

Gulf states are applying pressure from a different direction. Saudi Arabia\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement on Tuesday, expressed concern over the \u201ccurrent military escalation\u201d and explicitly backed Pakistan\u2019s mediation efforts.<\/p>\n

\"Iran'sIran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing [Abbas Araghchi\/Telegram via AP]<\/p>\n

Riyadh called for the Strait of Hormuz to be restored to its pre-February 28 state and demanded the safe, unconditional passage of ships, a position that mirrors Washington\u2019s stated demands and sits at odds with Tehran\u2019s insistence on a new governing mechanism for the waterway.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, in Beijing, Araghchi spoke by telephone with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, according to Iran\u2019s state news agency IRNA.<\/p>\n

The two sides reviewed the latest regional developments and emphasised the continuation of diplomacy and cooperation among regional countries to prevent further escalation.<\/p>\n

The approaching Hajj pilgrimage adds a separate constraint. With roughly 1.8 million Muslims expected to converge on Mecca from around May 25, including Iranian pilgrims, any escalation during that period would carry severe political costs for all parties.<\/p>\n

Krieg said the converging deadlines made some form of agreement more likely without guaranteeing its substance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWashington wants to maintain military pressure but not burn the diplomatic path. In the language of negotiations, such a move is more of a limited confidence-building measure than a strategic concession,\u201d Krieg said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timetable increases the chances of a limited deal, but lowers the chances of a grand agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013 On Monday morning, the United States Navy began escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":941622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[521,12633,13,774,839,2597,12,6026,1398,14,49,286,234407],"class_list":{"0":"post-941621","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-asia","9":"tag-business-and-economy","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-iran","12":"tag-middle-east","13":"tag-military","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-pakistan","16":"tag-shipping","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-us-canada","20":"tag-us-israel-war-on-iran"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116527907024098870","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}