According to Israel’s Channel 12, Iran must fulfil a number of demands for the war to end.
They mostly centre on the main rationale US officials have given for starting the war: to stop the country building nuclear weapons – an allegation that has not been supported and which Iran has always rejected – and to eliminate the threat of its missile programme.
The proposals request that Iran must “commit never to pursue nuclear weapons”, pledge to dismantle nuclear facilities and hand over the enriched amounts of uranium it possesses to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, which is to monitor the issue going forward.
According to the proposals, Iran would agree to limit its missile programme in range and quantity.
Additionally, Iran would stop funding regional proxies – Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen.
Iran would also be required to reopen the Strait of Hormuz so it could function as a “free maritime corridor”. Closure of the strait – through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies pass – has sent prices spiking and led to fears of recession in the world economy.
All international sanctions would be lifted on Iran, the reported plan says.
Full sanctions were reimposed last November after Iran suspended inspections of its nuclear facilities in the wake of Israeli and US bombing of several of its nuclear sites and military bases.
Asked to confirm these details, Trump’s press secretary said: “The White House never confirmed that full plan. There are elements of truth to it, but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual”.
Iran’s foreign minister said “some ideas” had been proposed to the country’s senior leaders – and “if a position needs to be taken, it will certainly be determined”.