\n<\/p>\n
By Asif Shahzad, Humeyra Pamuk and Ahmed Elimam<\/p>\n
ISLAMABAD\/WASHINGTON\/DUBAI, May 1 (Reuters) – Tehran has submitted its latest proposal for negotiations with the United States, Iranian state media and a Pakistani official said on Friday, a move that could offer hope for breaking a deadlock in efforts to end the Iran war.<\/p>\n
The official, involved in Pakistani mediation over the \u200cwar, said Pakistan had received the proposal late on Thursday and had forwarded it to the U.S.<\/p>\n
Neither the official nor Iranian state news agency IRNA gave details, and the White \u200cHouse declined to comment, while saying negotiations continued. Global oil prices, which remain well above $100 a barrel, eased following news of the proposal.<\/p>\n
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused unprecedented disruption to energy markets, choking off 20% of the world’s oil \u200band gas supplies and causing a record rally in oil prices.<\/p>\n
The blockade of the vital sea channel has also increased concerns that there will be an economic downturn. The U.S. Navy is blocking exports of Iranian crude oil, and on Friday the U.S. Treasury warned shippers that they risked sanctions if they paid tolls to Iran to pass through the Strait.<\/p>\n
A ceasefire has been in place since April 8 but reports that U.S. President Donald Trump was to be briefed on plans for new military strikes to compel Iran to negotiate had pushed global oil prices up to a four-year high at one point on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Iran has activated air \u200cdefences and plans a wide response if attacked, having assessed that there \u2060will be a short, intensive U.S. strike, possibly followed by an Israeli attack, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
‘TREACHEROUS AGGRESSION’<\/p>\n
Washington has not said what its next steps are. Trump said on Tuesday he was unhappy with the previous proposal from Iran, and Pakistan has not set a date for new \u2060talks on ending a war that has killed thousands, mainly in Iran and Lebanon.<\/p>\n
After U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on February 28, Iran fired at U.S. bases, infrastructure and U.S.-linked companies in Gulf states, while the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah launched missiles at Israel, which responded with strikes on Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Underlining the concerns of the Gulf states, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said the “collective international will and provisions of international law” were the primary guarantors of freedom of navigation \u200bthrough \u200bthe strait.<\/p>\n
“And, of course, no unilateral Iranian arrangements can be trusted or relied upon following its treacherous aggression against \u200ball its neighbors,” Gargash wrote.<\/p>\n
Trump faces a formal U.S. deadline on Friday to \u200cend the war or make the case to Congress for extending it under the 1973 War Powers Resolution.<\/p>\n
The date looks set to pass without altering the course of the conflict after a senior administration official said that, for the purposes of the resolution, hostilities had terminated due to the April ceasefire between Tehran and Washington.<\/p>\n
Financial and energy markets remained on edge because of concerns about the impasse over negotiations and worries that there could be a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
IRAN SAYS NOT TO EXPECT QUICK RESULTS FROM TALKS<\/p>\n
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei cautioned on Thursday against expecting quick results from talks.<\/p>\n
A senior official of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said any new U.S. attack on Iran, even if limited, would usher in “long and painful strikes” on U.S. regional positions, while Aerospace Force Commander Majid Mousavi was quoted \u200cby Iranian media as saying: “We’ve seen what happened to your regional bases; we will see the same thing happen to \u200byour warships.”<\/p>\n
Trump repeated on Thursday that Iran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, and said the price \u200bof gasoline – an important concern for his Republican Party before midterm elections in November – would “drop like \u200ba rock” as soon as the war ended.<\/p>\n
Iran says its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes.<\/p>\n
The conflict has aggravated Iran’s economic plight, but it looks able \u200cto survive a standoff for now, despite the U.S. blockade that has curtailed \u200bits energy exports.<\/p>\n
Axios news site reported that one plan \u200bto be shared with Trump during a briefing by top U.S. military leaders that was scheduled for Thursday involved using ground forces to take over part of the strait to reopen it to commercial shipping. Trump is also considering extending the U.S. blockade or declaring a unilateral victory, officials have said.<\/p>\n
Washington did not immediately announce any details of its plans.<\/p>\n
In a sign that \u200bthe U.S. was also envisaging a scenario where hostilities cease, a State \u200cDepartment cable due to be delivered orally to partner nations by May 1 invited them to join a new coalition, called the Maritime Freedom Construct, to enable ships to \u200bnavigate the strait.<\/p>\n
France, Britain and others have held talks on contributing to such a coalition but said they would help to open the Strait only when the conflict ends.<\/p>\n
(Reporting \u200bby Reuters bureaus, Writing by Timothy Heritage and Aidan Lewis, Editing by Gareth Jones and Hugh Lawson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n