The war in the Middle East

Ready to restart US-Iran negotiations. Trump: 'Agreement within a week'

The United States unveiled a new plan. According to the president possible understanding before his trip to China in mid-May. Tehran: proposal under consideration. Navy fires at Iranian oil tanker

by our correspondent in New York Marco Valsania

7 May 2026

Bambine sfruttate per la propaganda del regime degli Ayatollah a Teheran APN

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Donald Trump relies on a new diplomatic escalation to resolve the war with Iran, albeit always accompanied by threats of a devastating resumption of hostilities if dialogue fails. He has submitted a proposal to Tehran that would immediately end the conflict by restarting a phase of negotiations. A plan that, amid reservations, the Iranian regime is examining. The coming hours and days could prove decisive for whether or not the impasse will be broken: the parties, American sources assured, have never been so close to a compromise.

"I think there is a very good chance that it will end" the war, Trump told public network Pbs, suggesting that a compromise may be within reach ahead of his trip to China for a summit with Xi Jinping next week. "If it doesn't end, we will have to return to carpet bombing," he added, however. He later said that Washington is in contact with Iranian representatives who want an understanding. That the talks are "good" and Tehran would agree not to have atomic weapons.

On Truth Social, the president's stance was similar: Iran must 'accept what is agreed. Otherwise the attacks will begin' and they will be 'of much greater intensity' than in the past. The exact content of the offer fielded by the White House has remained officially top secret, but the contours have filtered through the media, from the Wall Street Journal to Axios. A stringent one-page memorandum of understanding would be signed, declaring the war over and inaugurating at least 30 days of negotiations, to be held in Islamabad or Geneva, to define more details. More precisely, there are 14 points at stake: these include an Iranian moratorium of perhaps 12 or 15 years on uranium enrichment (followed by low levels of enrichment for civilian use). While the US would phase out sanctions and unfreeze Tehran's funds. A reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to shipping would be assured by both.

Among the knots is Washington's insistence on the removal and storage outside Iran of the uranium stockpiles it already possesses, which Tehran has so far refused. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday claimed close coordination with Trump, with the two leaders agreeing on the importance of removing stockpiles and dismantling Iranian nuclear capabilities.

Cautious and possibilistic signals came from Tehran. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghei said that 'when we finalise the considerations, we will hand over our views to Pakistan' acting as an intermediary. Other officials in Tehran were harsher, saying that a number of American demands remain unacceptable. The Revolutionary Guard, in a sign of a potential decrease in tensions, promised that cargo ships will be allowed to transit Hormuz: 'With the end of the aggressors' threats, in light of new procedures, safe and sustainable transit through the strait will be facilitated'. It is unclear what the procedures are.

Trump's latest move came at the end of a succession of twists and turns that have fuelled in the US as much hope for a way out of an unpopular and risky war as uncertainty about the administration's strategy. Trump abruptly suspended, in the aftermath of the launch, the ambitious Operation Project Freedom, the military protection of commercial vessels in the waters of Hormuz, which had rekindled clashes with Iran, which in response hurled missiles and drones at vessels and Persian Gulf countries allied with the US. The US fleet, however, maintained its blockade of Iranian ports and even in the last few hours opened fire on a Tehran oil tanker, the Hasna, neutralising its rudder and preventing it from violating the embargo.

The pause of Project Freedom, with the president alluding to 'great progress' with Tehran, caused a particular stir because it was announced shortly after the Pentagon had instead declared that it was continuing, despite having only managed to transit three ships. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had added that the conflict was already over and that the defensive mission Project Freedom was replacing the belligerent Epic Fury.

If and when the war ends, France has indicated that a coalition of non-belligerent countries is ready to guarantee the security of Hormuz and that its aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle is already in the Red Sea. In the conflict in Lebanon, meanwhile, a Hezbollah special forces commander was killed by an Israeli raid on the southern outskirts of Beirut.