The deal would also see the end of the US naval block­ade of Ira­nian ports, and the ongo­ing con­flict in Lebanon, accord­ing to the semi-offi­cial Nour News and Tas­nim agen­cies. But nego­ti­ations on Iran’s nuc­lear pro­gramme – the destruc­tion of which has been one of Don­ald Trump’s key goals of the war – would only take place after the ini­tial deal is reached.

Mr Trump on Sat­urday said he was review­ing a new Ira­nian pro­posal but expressed doubt it would lead to a deal, adding on social media that “they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Human­ity, and the World, over the last 47 years” since the Islamic Revolu­tion there.

Iran’s 14-point pro­posal, a rebut­tal to a US nine-point plan, also calls for the US with­draw­ing forces from the region and ceas­ing all hos­til­it­ies.

There was no men­tion in those reports, however, of Iran’s nuc­lear pro­gram and its enriched uranium, long the cent­ral issue in ten­sions with the US and one that Tehran would rather address later. Iran sent its reply via Pakistan, which hos­ted faceto-face talks last month between Iran and the United States.

Pakistan’s prime min­is­ter, for­eign min­is­ter and army chief con­tinue to push nego­ti­ations and encour­age the US and Iran to speak dir­ectly, accord­ing to two offi­cials in Pakistan who spoke on con­di­tion of anonym­ity because they were not author­ised to speak to the media.

The fra­gile three-week cease­fire appears to be hold­ing, although Mr Trump on Sat­urday told journ­al­ists that fur­ther strikes remained a pos­sib­il­ity.

Also yes­ter­day, Ira­nian for­eign min­is­ter Abbas Aragh­chi spoke with Oman’s for­eign min­is­ter Badr al-Busaidi, who over­saw pre­vi­ous rounds of talks between the US and Iran before the war.

Mr Trump has offered a plan to reopen the Strait of Hor­muz at the mouth of the Per­sian Gulf, where about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and nat­ural gas typ­ic­ally passes, along with fer­til­iser badly needed by farm­ers around the world.

Iran’s grip on the strait has shaken global mar­kets. Iran’s deputy par­lia­ment speaker yes­ter­day said Tehran “will not back down from our pos­i­tion on the Strait of Hor­muz, and it will not return to its pre­war con­di­tions.” Ali Nikzad, who has no decision­mak­ing power in par­lia­ment, spoke while vis­it­ing port facil­it­ies on stra­tegic Larak Island.

Mr Nikzad reit­er­ated Iran’s pos­i­tion that any ship not asso­ci­ated with the US or Israel can pass after pay­ing a toll. Tehran effect­ively closed the strait by attack­ing and threat­en­ing ships.

The US has warned ship­ping com­pan­ies they could face sanc­tions for pay­ing Iran in any form, includ­ing digital assets, to pass safely. Mean­while, the US naval block­ade since 13 April is depriving Tehran of oil rev­enue it needs to shore up its ail­ing eco­nomy.

Accord­ing to reports in Ira­nian media, sev­eral factor­ies have not renewed con­tracts for work­ers after the Ira­nian new year in March, and sig­ni­fic­ant num­bers have lost their jobs. Yousef Pezeshkian, the son and adviser of Pres­id­ent Masoud Pezeshkian, wrote on Tele­gram that both the United States and Iran see them­selves as the win­ner of the war and are unwill­ing to back down.

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