A new report from Axios' Barak Ravid says Iran was caught off guard by JD Vance leaving talks in Pakistan. Iran thought they were close to an agreement on Sunday morning, he says.
The main sticking points were differences over Iran's nuclear program and whether Iran will agree not to enrich uranium at all and give up its existing stockpile. Iran wants to down-blend it in order to continue to use it in its civilian reactors.
The US proposed a 20-year moratorium on enrichment and Iran suggested a 'single digit' one instead.
The report says:
Pakistani, Egyptian and Turkish mediators are now trying to bridge the remaining gaps and reach a deal to end the war before the ceasefire ends on April 21.
The US official cited in the repot says there is continued engagement and Iran thought Vance leaving was a stunt.
"The Iranians were pissed off about that press conference," a source with knowledge said.
The report also cites Turkey's foreign minister who said an extension of the ceasefire of 45-60 days could be considered. In terms of markets, it would be critical that the Strait was opened during that period.
Oil ticked lower on this report.
For me, there just has to be some kind of possible common ground here, particularly if Iran's funds are released, Lebanon is halted, sanctions are removed, there are peace guarantees and Iran's missile program is left alone. I'd imagine some of that is tough for the US to swallow but Trump is framing this as all about nuclear, which is what he needs for domestic spin. I can't imagine Iran grandstanding on nuclear when they've previously given it up in the JCPOA. In fact, this agreement is likely to look much like the JCPOA.
