President Donald Trump and his national security team on Monday discussed Iran's latest peace proposal, under which Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the conflict.
Negotiations over the regime's nuclear ambitions would be postponed.
But lifting the blockade and ending the conflict would remove Trump's leverage in future talks to eliminate Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium and compel Tehran to suspend enrichment, two red-line objectives for Trump.
"I will confirm the president has met with his national security team this morning," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in remarks that aired live on Newsmax and the free Newsmax2 streaming platform.
"The meeting may be ongoing. Maybe not. I don't want to speak affirmatively because I was prepping to come out here, but the proposal was being discussed.
"I don't want to get ahead of the president or his national security team. What I will reiterate is that the president's red lines with respect to Iran have been made very, very clear, not just to the American public, but also to them as well," she said.
Leavitt stressed that Trump and his team were not considering the proposal but were only discussing it.
"I would just say that there was a discussion this morning that I don't want to get ahead of, and you'll hear directly from the president, I'm sure, on this topic very soon."
The U.S. and Iran were set to hold another round of direct talks in Islamabad last Saturday. But Trump decided against sending special envoy Steve Witkoff and White House adviser Jared Kushner. He told reporters there was no point in "sitting around talking about nothing."
Trump announced the decision after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Islamabad. Araghchi had spoken only with Pakistani officials.
After writing on Truth Social about canceling the delegation's trip, Trump told reporters that Iran followed up with a "much better" offer, without providing details.
"They gave us a paper that should have been better. And interestingly, immediately, when I canceled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better," Trump said before boarding Air Force One on Saturday.
Trump on April 8 declared a two-week ceasefire in the conflict. Fighting began Feb. 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran's political leaders and military infrastructure.
On April 11, the parties held talks in Islamabad, with Pakistan acting as a mediator.
Vice President JD Vance led the U.S. delegation, which included Witkoff and Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. But the talks broke down after Vance said the U.S. did not see "an affirmative commitment" from Iran that it would not seek a nuclear weapon.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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