Iran is assessing a draft agreement presented by the United States that would pause the war between the two nations, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday. The report follows comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that talks are ongoing to reach a deal.
More than three months after strikes by the U.S. and Israel targeted Iran, the fighting has hardened into what participants describe as a stalemate. Indirect negotiations to secure an interim arrangement have so far not produced a conclusive outcome, and the Strait of Hormuz remains for the most part closed to normal commercial traffic.
Mehr reported that Tehran has not yet replied to a proposed final text for the temporary accord. A source cited by the agency said Iran was adopting a stern stance, pointing to a history of perceived U.S. non-compliance and deep-seated mistrust as reasons for caution.
President Trump said on Monday that negotiations with Iran were continuing and predicted a deal would be secured within the next week to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Since mid-March, Trump has repeatedly indicated that he was near to signing a peace agreement.
A ceasefire has largely held since early April, although Iranian and U.S. forces exchanged strikes several times over the past week. Market responses have been mixed: oil prices retreated by more than 1% on Tuesday, trimming the prior session’s sharp gains, even as a senior International Energy Agency official warned that global oil inventories could fall to historically low levels.
Wider conflict and regional incursions
The war that started on February 28 has resulted in thousands of deaths, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, according to accounts of the ongoing fighting. The conflict has exerted a global economic toll by pushing energy prices higher, with Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz cutting off a waterway that previously carried about a fifth of global supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas.
The fighting has also sparked the latest round of confrontation between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, prompting Israel’s deepest incursion into Lebanon in 25 years. On Tuesday, Lebanese security sources said Israel continued strikes in southern Lebanon, one day after U.S. mediation appeared to have averted immediate further escalation between the two sides.
Lebanon announced a partial ceasefire on Monday that would see Israel refrain from strikes on Beirut and Hezbollah-controlled suburbs, while Hezbollah would halt its attacks on Israel. Lebanon plans to seek expansion of that ceasefire during talks with Israel in Washington scheduled for Wednesday. Within Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces domestic criticism over any restraint on strikes against Beirut, ahead of an election later this year in which he is projected to lose.
What Iran seeks in a limited interim deal
Iranian sources say Tehran is pursuing a limited interim agreement designed to relieve mounting economic pressure without making major concessions on its nuclear programme. As described by those sources, Iran’s conditions for any deal include an end to hostilities across all fronts, including Lebanon; access to billions of dollars in oil revenues; waivers permitting crude exports; removal of a U.S. blockade on its ports; and retention of leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.
Those demands reflect Tehran’s interest in easing near-term economic strains while preserving core strategic positions.
Maritime movements and threats to other chokepoints
On Tuesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reported that 24 vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours after receiving permission from the Guards’ navy. The statement underlines Iran’s continuing control over movements through the waterway.
Iran also warned on Monday that it could extend its blockade to the Bab El Mandeb Strait, the entrance to the Red Sea, if Israel resumed strikes on Beirut. Such a move would threaten another key global maritime chokepoint and carry implications for flows through one of the world’s major shipping routes.
Political and market pressures
President Trump faces the dual political pressures of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to relieve U.S. fuel costs while avoiding concessions that could be portrayed as favorable to Iran. The competing demands of domestic energy prices and negotiation leverage shape the administration’s stance as talks proceed.
For markets and transport networks, the persistence of the stalemate and the partial closure of a major oil transit route continue to reverberate in price volatility and shipping operations, with energy supply risks flagged by international agencies.