Trump's negotiators are failing to reach ceasefire agreement with Iran – Axios

Negotiations between the United States and Iran on a ceasefire are on the verge of collapse, threatening a major escalation of the war in the Middle East.

Source: Axios, citing sources in the United States, Israel and the Middle East

Details: According to the outlet, the Trump administration has presented Iran with several proposals, but Iran has rejected them.

The 10-day deadline set by US President Donald Trump for Iran was expected to expire on the evening of Monday 6 April. However, due to a lack of progress, Trump extended the deadline by 20 hours – until the evening of Tuesday 7 April.

Sources say the chances of reaching an agreement within the next 48 hours are slim. However, this last attempt is the only chance to prevent a large-scale escalation of the war, which would involve large-scale strikes on Iran's civilian infrastructure and retaliatory strikes on energy and desalination facilities in several Gulf countries.

"There is a good chance, but if they don't make a deal, I am blowing up everything over there," Trump said in a comment to Axios.

Two sources said that an operational plan for a large-scale US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran's energy facilities is fully ready for implementation.

Four sources familiar with the diplomatic efforts said the negotiations are taking place with the involvement of Pakistani, Egyptian and Turkish mediators, as well as through text exchanges between Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The mediators are discussing the terms of a two-stage agreement. The first stage envisages a 45-day ceasefire, during which negotiations on a final end to the war would take place. The second stage would be a comprehensive agreement to end the war.

Sources note that Iran's main leverage in the talks is its control over the Strait of Hormuz and its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium. Iran is unwilling to fully give up either in exchange for a temporary truce.

The mediators are trying to determine whether Iran could take partial steps on both issues during the first stage of the agreement while also working on measures the Trump administration could take to provide guarantees that the ceasefire would not be temporary and that the war would not resume.

Iranian officials have made it clear that they do not want to end up in a situation similar to Gaza or Lebanon, where a ceasefire exists on paper but the US and Israel can resume attacks at any moment.

Details: Iranian officials continue to publicly maintain a hardline position and reject any concessions.

On Sunday 5 April, the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will "never return" to what it was before the war, especially for the US and Israel.

Background:

• Axios reported on 1 April that the United States and Iran were discussing a potential deal involving a ceasefire in exchange for Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
• On 3 April, Trump threatened Iran with new strikes on infrastructure, including bridges and power plants.

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