The United States and Iran are negotiating a three-page peace plan, a memorandum of understanding. One of its terms is that the United States will unfreeze $20 billion in frozen Iranian funds in exchange for Iran giving up its stockpile of enriched uranium — nearly 2 000 kilograms. In particular, Iran stores up to 450 kilograms of highly enriched uranium in underground nuclear facilities.
Axios reports this, citing two American officials and two other sources.
The parties are negotiating what will happen to these stocks and how much of Iranʼs assets the US will unfreeze. They are also discussing the terms under which Iran will be able to use the money.
The United States was willing to give Iran $6 billion early in the talks to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods, two sources said. The Iranians had demanded $27 billion. The last amount the United States had discussed with Iran was $20 billion. One US official said that was the US proposal. Another US official called the “money for uranium” concept “one of many discussions”.
After the Axios article was published, the US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Socials and denied these claims:
"The US will receive all the nuclear ʼdustʼ created by our big B2 bombers — no money will be transferred in any shape or form," Trump wrote.
The US also asked Iran to agree to send all of its nuclear material to the US. The Iranians agreed only to “dilute” it inside Iran — that is, mix it with low-enriched uranium. Under a compromise proposal currently being discussed, some of the highly enriched uranium would be sent to a third country and some would be “dilute” in Iran under international supervision.
The plan also allows Iran to have nuclear research reactors to produce medical isotopes, but it will commit to keeping all of its nuclear facilities above ground. Existing underground facilities will be decommissioned.
According to one source, the next round of talks is likely to take place on April 19 in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
War in the Middle East, negotiations between Iran, the US, Israel and Lebanon
On the morning of February 28, the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran. Iranʼs Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and almost the entire military leadership of the country — about 40 key high-ranking officials — were killed.
Iran, in response to the US and Israeli attacks, began shelling Arab countries and Israel. The war also halted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which almost a fifth of the worldʼs oil exports passed. This led to a sharp increase in oil and gas prices.
On the night of April 8, Trump wrote that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. Later, Iran published a 10-point peace plan: under it, the parties would cease hostilities, the US would withdraw troops from the Middle East and would no longer attack Iranian bases, and ships would have limited access to the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks.
Iran would also be required to lift primary and secondary sanctions and compensate for losses. Iran would commit not to developing nuclear weapons, and the US would recognize Iranʼs right to enrich uranium.
But on the afternoon of April 8, the Prime Minister of Pakistan said that ceasefire violations had been recorded in several places in the conflict zone in the Middle East.
Reuters sources reported that Iran had struck the East-West oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which is currently the only channel for exporting crude oil from the country, and other facilities. Before that, Iran announced an American attack on the refinery on Laban Island and threatened to respond.
At the same time, Israel launched its largest attack on Lebanon since the start of the new war: in 10 minutes, the Israeli army attacked more than 100 sites of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, killing more than 350 people. Israel claims that the ceasefire does not apply to Lebanon, while Pakistani mediators wrote that the cessation of hostilities also applies to Lebanon.
The talks took place on April 10-11 and lasted almost 21 hours. The US and Iran did not agree on a final end to the war.
On April 16, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. They agreed to a ten-day ceasefire, which was to begin at midnight Kyiv time on April 17. Trump wrote that this would be the tenth war he had ended.
Representatives of the two countries held their first direct talks since 1993 in Washington on April 14. But fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian group in Lebanon, continued. On April 16, Trump announced that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon would hold direct talks the following day.
Israel has said that the main goal of the talks with Lebanon is the complete disarmament of Hezbollah and the establishment of stable interstate relations. Lebanon demands a ceasefire and help overcome the humanitarian crisis.
On April 17, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tweeted that Iran had fully opened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels — due to a ceasefire in Lebanon. Trump then tweeted that the American naval blockade of the strait remained in effect: the United States would not allow ships to pass through to or from Iranian ports or coasts.
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