Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei confirmed yesterday that despite Trump’s very public rejection of the Iranian response to the U.S. one-page memo, the U.S. nonetheless sent, via Pakistan, a revised proposal.
“After we presented the 14-point plan, the American side raised its considerations. In return, we also presented our considerations,” Baqaei said during his Monday press briefing in response to a question raised by IRNA’s correspondent. “Last week, despite the American side publicly announcing that this plan was rejected, we received through the Pakistani mediator a set of revised points and considerations reflecting their views,” he added.
Unnamed sources told Axios yesterday that the White House did indeed receive the new Iranian proposal but that the administration believes it isn’t a meaningful improvement and is insufficient.
A senior U.S. official claimed that the Iranian counterproposal has only token improvements on the last version. “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 senior U.S. 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.”
