U.S. President Donald Trump disclosed on Friday that the United States had formally presented a proposal to Iran regarding its nuclear advancements in a rare diplomatic confirmation.
During his Air Force One address Trump confirmed that U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff delivered the proposal to Iranian officials including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi after multiple negotiation sessions.
Both parties have reached the “expert” level of discussion to review possible agreement terms. The main obstacle in the negotiations continues to be uranium enrichment. The Trump administration demands Iran to stop all uranium enrichment activities but Tehran asserts its right to continue enrichment.
“They have a proposal,” Trump said. “But most importantly, they know they have to move quickly, or something bad is going to happen.” He didn’t elaborate on the contents.
The Iranian government has not made any official statement about receiving the proposal. During his Thursday appearance at the Tehran International Book Fair Araghchi stated that no official proposal had been presented to him. He expressed criticism toward the U.S. government for its conflicting messages which he described as either confusing or strategically planned.
The nuclear issue remains highly sensitive because Iran’s program approaches weapons-grade capability yet U.S. intelligence agencies maintain Iran does not actively work on building a bomb.
Trump made these statements during his three-country Middle East tour which ended with his repeated warnings about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Both countries face a crucial test to establish agreement terms before tensions reach a critical point.
