Trump Says He Tossed Iran Proposal After First Sentence: What Was in the Deal?

President Donald Trump said he rejected Iran's latest proposal after reading only its opening line, a blunt sign that U.S.-Iran talks remain deadlocked over Tehran's nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz, and the terms for ending the war.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One after his trip to China, Trump was asked whether he had rejected the latest proposal from Iran.

"I looked at it, and if I don't like the first sentence, I just throw it away," Trump said, according to Dawn and other reports from the exchange. Asked what the first sentence said, Trump replied that it was "unacceptable." He added: "If they have any nuclear of any form, I don't read the rest of it."

The remark sharpened what has become the central U.S. demand in the negotiations: Iran must give up domestic uranium enrichment and move its highly enriched uranium stockpile abroad. Reuters reported that Washington insists Iran should renounce domestic enrichment, while Tehran says it has the right to peaceful nuclear technology under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and denies seeking a nuclear weapon.

Trump's comments came as the cease-fire between the U.S. and Iran remains fragile. Trump told Fox News' Hannity he is "not going to be much more patient" with Tehran and said Iran "should make a deal." In the same interview, he suggested retrieving Iran's enriched uranium was important partly for "public relations," saying, "I just feel better if I got it."

The negotiations have moved through several reported proposals, but none has resolved the core dispute.

Trump revelations come at the heels of harsh comments from Iran about the negotiating process. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said Tehran has "no trust" in the United States and would negotiate only if Washington proves it is serious about diplomacy.

"Contradictory messages have made us reluctant about the real intention of the Americans on negotiations," Araghchi said Friday during a visit to New Delhi for a BRICS foreign ministers' meeting reported by Reuters. He added that Pakistan-mediated negotiations between Tehran and Washington had not collapsed but were currently "in difficulty."

Proposals and counterproposals between Washington and Iran

At least three major frameworks or counteroffers have surfaced in the current May round alone. Reuters reported on May 6 that Iran was reviewing a U.S. proposal that could formally end the war, begin talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lift U.S. sanctions, and place curbs on Iran's nuclear program. Reuters also noted it was unclear how that memorandum differed from an earlier 14-point plan proposed by Iran.

Araghchi added that Iran was attempting to preserve the ceasefire "to give diplomacy a chance" while remaining prepared to resume fighting if negotiations fail. He also warned that the situation around the Strait of Hormuz remained "very complicated," adding that ships transiting the waterway should coordinate with Iran's navy unless they belong to countries "at war with Tehran."

According to Al Jazeera the latest 14-point U.S. peace proposal that would require Iran to agree not to develop a nuclear weapon, halt uranium enrichment for at least 12 years and hand over an estimated 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent. In return, the U.S. would gradually lift sanctions, release frozen Iranian assets, and withdraw its blockade of Iranian ports.