April 27: An American official and two informed sources revealed that Iran has proposed a new plan through a Pakistani mediator aimed at reaching an agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war, while nuclear negotiations are postponed to a later stage.

This new plan aims to break the current negotiation deadlock and bypass internal divisions within Iran's leadership regarding how much concessions they are willing to make on nuclear issues to reach an agreement with the Trump administration. However, reaching an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz first and lifting the US blockade would strip Trump of real leverage, preventing him from forcing Tehran to relinquish its enriched uranium stockpile and commit to a suspension of uranium enrichment activities for at least ten years. Resolving these two major nuclear concerns through military action or diplomatic means is a key goal for Trump in the Iran conflict.
According to three U.S. officials, Trump is expected to hold a war room meeting on Monday with his senior national security and foreign policy team regarding Iran. One official said the meeting is expected to discuss the current deadlock in negotiations with Iran and potential options for the next steps in the war.
On Sunday, Trump told Fox News he hopes to continue the maritime blockade and expects this move to force Iran to yield within the next few weeks, as Iran’s oil facilities could face shutdowns due to an inability to export oil. Trump said, “When a lot of oil flows into your system… if this line is shut down because it can’t be loaded onto containers or ships… the consequence is an internal explosion in the system… They say there’s only about three days before this happens. Once it explodes, you can never put it back the way it was… only about 50% of what it is now. So I think they’re under pressure.” After Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi’s visits to Pakistan last Friday and Saturday ended without results, the US-Iran negotiation crisis deepened over the weekend. Trump told Axios that Iran’s stance was the reason he canceled the trips of envoy Witkov and Kushner to Islamabad. Trump said, “Given the current negotiation situation, I don’t see any point in them flying 18 hours. It’s too long. Just call us. If Iran wants to talk, they can call us. We’re not going to travel just to sit there.”
On Sunday, Araghchi held talks in Muscat with Omani officials, focusing on the Strait of Hormuz issue, then returned to Islamabad for a second round of talks. On Monday, Araghchi is expected to go to Moscow to meet with Russian President Putin.
Two informed sources said that during Araghchi’s talks in Islamabad, he discussed a new plan with Pakistani officials aimed at bypassing the current deadlock surrounding the nuclear program. One source said Araghchi explicitly told mediators from Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar over the weekend that there is no consensus within Iran’s leadership on how to respond to the US demands for a long-term suspension of uranium enrichment and the export of enriched uranium from Iran.
Both sources indicated that this Iran-Pakistan new plan focuses first on resolving the crisis over the Strait of Hormuz and the US blockade. As part of the plan, a ceasefire agreement would be extended for a long time, or both sides would agree to end the war permanently.
Sources said that under this plan, nuclear negotiations would only begin after the Strait of Hormuz is reopened and the blockade is lifted. The Pakistani mediator has handed Iran’s proposal to the White House. It is unclear whether the US is willing to explore this.
White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told Axios, “These are sensitive diplomatic discussions, and the US will not negotiate through the media. As the President said, the US holds all the cards and will only reach an agreement that puts America first, and will never allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.”