Negotiators between Iran and the United States are pushing for Iran to make concessions on its nuclear program in exchange for reviving peace talks, mediators told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.
One high-level Middle East government official involved in the talks told the WSJ that Iran had been close to compromising on its nuclear program earlier this year during negotiations with US Vice President JD Vance, but would need explicit assurance that it would not be attacked by Israel after making a deal with the US.
Other officials said that Iran is confident it could withstand a long-term US blockade or renewed bombing campaign.
Arab officials and mediators also told the WSJ that Iran has not compromised at all since US President Donald Trump rejected the recent ceasefire offer, and that it wants the US to offer concessions before continuing any negotiations.
Umer Karim, a researcher on Gulf security at the UK’s University of Birmingham, said Iran believes Trump and the Republican Party will lose the midterm elections, which may lead to greater willingness on his part to use force against Iran.
“Right now, a concession at this time by any party would be considered an expression of weakness by the other and not just a willingness to settle matters,” Karim said.
On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghichi told reporters at the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Iran had offered the United States a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in seven days.
Araghchi added that this deal would build on June’s Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries and would be implemented only if certain conditions were met.
In response, Trump told reporters outside the White House on Saturday that he had rejected the proposal, saying, “They want to make a deal to open the Hormuz Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly.”