The United States has received Iran’s new proposal, but U.S. officials say it contains no significant changes and is not enough to satisfy the Trump administration.
A senior U.S. official and another person familiar with the matter told Axios on Monday that Iran had submitted an updated proposal to end the war. But the White House believes it does not represent a meaningful improvement and is insufficient for reaching an agreement, they said.
Trump on Iran
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Trump is expected to convene his senior national security team Tuesday in the Situation Room to discuss military options. In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his inner Cabinet for a security discussion on Iran, amid the possibility of renewed fighting or a deal. It was the second consecutive day the inner Cabinet met.
The senior U.S. official told Axios that if Iran won't shift its position, the U.S. will have to continue the negotiations "through bombs."
The official said Iran’s counterproposal includes only “token improvements” compared with the previous version. It expands on Iran’s commitment not to develop nuclear weapons but does not include commitments to suspend uranium enrichment or hand over its existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Iranian state media reported that the United States had agreed in the talks to ease some oil sanctions. But the U.S. official said there would be no sanctions relief “for free” without reciprocal steps by Iran.
“We are really not making a lot of progress. We are at a very serious place today. The pressure is on them to be responsive in the right way,” the official said. “It's time for the Iranians to throw [a] bit of candy out. We need some real, sturdy, and granular conversation [regarding the nuclear program]. If that's not gonna happen, we will have a conversation through bombs, which will be a shame.”
The official said the United States and Iran are not negotiating directly over the details of an agreement itself, but are holding indirect talks in an effort to agree on what those negotiations would look like. He said the fact that Iran submitted a new counterproposal, despite its limited changes, indicates Tehran fears another U.S. military strike.
Iran, meanwhile, says Washington is showing flexibility behind closed doors. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the United States had softened its position in recent talks, allowing Tehran to maintain limited peaceful nuclear activities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The source said that on the issue of Iran's frozen assets, however, Washington has so far only agreed to free one quarter of those assets according to a phased timetable. Iran wants the U.S. to reconsider both positions, the source said.
In its new proposal, the source said, Iran has again focused on securing an end to the war, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting maritime sanctions.
The more contentious issues around Iran's nuclear program and uranium enrichment, which remain the most difficult parts of the negotiations, have been deferred to later rounds of talks.
A Pakistani official told Reuters on Monday that Islamabad had relayed to the United States overnight a “revised proposal” submitted by Iran to end the war.
The official warned that the sides “don’t have much time” when asked whether there was enough time to bridge the gaps between them, as Trump warns that his patience is running out. The official also said both Tehran and Washington “keep changing their goalposts,” apparently referring to their negotiating demands.
An American source told Al Jazeera that “President Trump’s patience is running out because of the lack of progress with Iran.”
“Iran has days, not weeks, to offer President Trump something that breaks the deadlock,” the source said. “The president is leaning toward military action unless he gets something from Iran within days.”
It is unclear what the new Iranian proposal includes. But shortly before the Pakistani official’s remarks, Iran’s Foreign Ministry again said the regime would not compromise on what it calls its “right” to enrich uranium, the central dispute in the talks.
“We will not put our right to enrich uranium up for negotiation,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said. He added that Iran and the United States had both submitted “comments” on the latest Iranian proposal and that contacts mediated by Pakistan were continuing.
Pakistani officials told Al Jazeera that “efforts are now focused on trying to ensure the continuation of the ceasefire.”
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that the Iranian proposal contains 14 clauses, after several amendments to a proposal submitted by the Americans. The new Iranian text focuses on negotiations to end the war and on confidence-building steps by the United States, the report said.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan. The ministry said the two discussed issues related to the current diplomatic process and recent regional developments.
At the same time, U.S. Central Command said American forces in the Arabian Sea, near the Strait of Hormuz, had directed 84 commercial vessels and “disabled” four since the United States began its naval blockade of Iran.
Trump continued to threaten Iran overnight, posting on Truth Social a map of the Middle East colored like the American flag. The map showed lines from all of Iran’s neighboring countries pointing toward the heart of the Islamic Republic, resembling a plan for an attack from all directions. The map appeared to have been generated by AI and included numerous place names that do not appear to exist.
Trump did not add a caption to the map. Shortly before posting it, he shared an AI-generated image showing him sitting in a spacecraft and pressing a red button, with images of huge explosions appearing on screens around him.
On Sunday night, Trump explicitly threatened Iran in a post: “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”
First published: 17:45, 05.18.26