Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is possible under “new procedures,” Iranian media reports. It follows Trump’s announcement yesterday that the US will pause its effort to guide vessels through the strait while maintaining its blockade of Iranian ports.
Netanyahu seeks updates: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding talks today with Trump administration officials about the negotiations between the US and Iran, according to an Israeli source. Israel is concerned, the source said, about potential last-minute US concessions aimed at securing a deal.
President Donald Trump told PBS News today that the terms of a potential deal with Iran would include Tehran shipping its enriched uranium stockpile to the United States and pledging not to operate its underground facilities.
News of positive movement from Pakistani mediators helped spur Trump on Tuesday to announce a pause of “Project Freedom” — an operation to guide stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz — citing progress in negotiations with Iran, two administration officials said.
Trump’s top priority is finding a diplomatic offramp to the war and reopening the strait swiftly, the administration officials said.
The president on Wednesday expressed optimism about the prospects of soon reaching a deal, but he acknowledged the US has been down this road before. “Yeah, I think so, but I felt that way before with them, so we’ll see what happens,” he told PBS News.
More on negotiations: A one-page plan being floated internally contains provisions that have been at the heart of negotiations to end the conflict, a person familiar with the plan told CNN. The document would declare an end to the war while triggering a 30-day negotiation period on resolving sticking points, including on nuclear issues, unfreezing Iranian assets and future security in the Strait of Hormuz, the person said.
Precise details of the plan couldn’t immediately be verified, but the source familiar said it would include discussion of a moratorium on uranium enrichment for a period of longer than 10 years. A previous US proposal had set it at 20 years. The plan also requires Iran to ship its stockpile of highly enriched uranium out of the country, but details were still being negotiated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding talks on Wednesday with officials in the Trump administration, according to an Israeli source familiar with the details, in order to better understand the latest developments in the negotiations between the US and Iran.
The source told CNN that Netanyahu is seeking updates on the state of the negotiations and aims to understand what is currently on the table. Israel is concerned, the source said, about potential last minute US concessions aimed at securing an agreement to end the war with Iran.
It’s unclear with whom Netanyahu has spoken. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
A US official told CNN that Netanyahu has regularly spoken to US officials to stay updated on negotiations between the US and Iran.
Israel is particularly worried about the possible lifting of economic sanctions on Iran, the source said, and is pushing for restrictions to be imposed on Iran’s proxy network as well as its ballistic missile program. In addition, Israel wants to ensure that any agreement preserves the Israeli military’s freedom of action against regional threats.
On Wednesday, an Israeli official said, “The Americans did not surprise us.” The official said Netanyahu is in “continuous contact” with President Donald Trump. “It was made clear to us in these talks that President Trump is standing firm on his red lines, first and foremost the removal of nuclear material,” the official said.