The U.S. government has sent Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal between the two countries, the White House confirmed on Saturday.
Abbas Araghchi is the Iranian Foreign Minister. He said that he had been presented with “elements of a US deal” by his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi during a short visit to the Iranian capital.
The proposal comes after a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog said that Iran had further stepped up its production of enriched uranium, a key component in the construction of nuclear weapons.
Karoline Leavitt is the White House Press Secretary. She said that on Saturday it was in Tehran’s “best interest to accept” the deal, adding, “President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb.”.
Leavitt said that a “detailed and acceptable” proposal had been sent to Iran by U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Araghchi wrote on X that the US proposal “will be appropriately responded to in line with the principles, national interests and rights of the people of Iran”. The precise details of the deal are not yet clear.
The proposal follows a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which found Iran now possesses over eight hundred and eighty pounds of uranium enriched to sixty percent purity. This is close to the ninety percent purity required for weapons-grade uranium. It is well above the level of purity required for civilian nuclear power and research purposes.
Iran has enough uranium to make about ten nuclear weapons if it is further refined. Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed state producing uranium at this level. Iran has repeatedly said that their nuclear program is peaceful.
The U.S. has long sought to limit Iran’s nuclear capacity to build nuclear weapons. Talks between the U.S. and Iran mediated by Oman have been under way since April.
Both sides have expressed optimism during the course of the talks but still remain divided over key issues. Chief among them is the question of whether Iran can continue enrichment under any future agreement.
Despite the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the U.S., the IAEA report offered no indication that Iran has slowed its nuclear enrichment efforts.
Iran has produced highly enriched uranium at a rate equivalent to the amount needed for one nuclear weapon per month over the past three months, the IAEA report found.
U.S. officials estimate that, if Iran chooses to make a nuclear weapon, it could produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium in less than two weeks and potentially build a bomb within months.
Iran has consistently denied it is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. However, the IAEA said it could not confirm whether this continued to be the case because Iran refuses to grant access to senior inspectors and has not answered longstanding questions about its nuclear history.
Trump is seeking a new nuclear agreement with Tehran after withdrawing the U.S. from a previous nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers in 2018.
This nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, was signed in 2015 by Iran and the U.S., China, France, Russia, Germany and the U.K.
The JCPOA sought to limit and monitor Iran’s nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions that had been placed on the regime in 2010 due to suspicions that its nuclear program was being used to develop a nuclear weapon.
However, Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal during his first term in office, claiming JCPOA was a “bad deal” because it was not permanent and did not address Iran’s ballistic missile program, amongst other things.
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action