A developing agreement between Washington and Tehran is centered on one dramatic condition: Iran would be required to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium as part of a broader effort to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to global shipping traffic.
Two American officials cited by the New York Times on Saturday night said the framework now taking shape includes an Iranian commitment to relinquish the regime’s cache of near-weapons-grade uranium. The move would mark one of the most significant nuclear concessions Tehran has made in years.
Administration officials avoided publicly discussing the finer points of the negotiations, but President Donald Trump said earlier that the United States is moving quickly toward an arrangement designed to bring the war to a close and restore free navigation through the critical Hormuz waterway.
Even with the upbeat tone coming from the White House, negotiators are still facing major unresolved issues, and officials caution that multiple obstacles remain before any formal agreement can be completed.
Under the current outline, negotiators deliberately postponed the complicated issue of exactly how the uranium transfer would occur. Those technical details are expected to be handled in a separate phase of specialized nuclear talks.
Still, American officials have insisted that an upfront Iranian pledge to eliminate the stockpile is essential and cannot be compromised. The administration views that provision as critical to winning over skeptical Republicans in Congress who have pushed for a far tougher posture against the Iranian regime.
So far, Tehran has not publicly addressed the announcement made by President Trump or confirmed the reported breakthrough.
The apparent willingness by Iran to include its enriched uranium reserves in the framework represents a sharp shift from its earlier position. Iranian officials had initially resisted any attempt to address the stockpile during the first phase of negotiations, instead pressing to delay the matter until later discussions involving a long-term accord.
According to the New York Times, the deadlock ended only after the United States delivered a severe warning through foreign intermediaries. American negotiators reportedly informed Tehran that refusal to deal with the uranium issue immediately would lead Washington to walk away from the talks and restart large-scale military operations.
That warning was reportedly reinforced by detailed military preparations. Over recent days, Pentagon planners presented President Trump with multiple aggressive strike scenarios aimed at destroying Iran’s nuclear reserves, most of which are believed to be housed at the Isfahan nuclear facility.
Figures released by the International Atomic Energy Agency show that Iran currently holds roughly 970 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity — a level widely viewed as dangerously close to weapons-grade material.
The proposed arrangement also relies heavily on financial pressure and incentives. According to the New York Times, the framework includes a gradual release of tens of billions of dollars in Iranian assets that remain frozen in overseas financial institutions.
American officials said Iran would not receive access to most of that money until a final and binding nuclear agreement is fully completed. Western governments reportedly intend for much of the funding to flow through a monitored reconstruction mechanism, giving Tehran a major financial reason to stay aligned with the negotiations.
{Matzav.com}
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