Iran reviewing U.S. proposal, Trump says war will end soon: Reports

Iran is “currently reviewing” messages from the U.S. that it received via Pakistani mediators, but it has yet to reach a conclusion or deliver a reply, an Iranian official said Thursday, state media outlets reported.

The comments attributed to Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei came one day after Axios and other outlets reported that the U.S. and Iran were nearing a 14-point memorandum of understanding to end the war and tee up further nuclear talks.

President Donald Trump later said at the White House that the Iranians want to “make a deal very much, and we’ll see whether or not they can make a deal that’s satisfactory to us.”

At an event Wednesday evening to support Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Burt Jones, Trump predicted the war will “be over quickly,” CBS News reported.

The latest signals that the 2-plus-month-old war could be ending sent stocks higher and oil prices lower on Wednesday. But equities fell into the red on Thursday afternoon while oil resumed its rise, as further developments remained murky.

Things were especially unclear concerning the Strait of Hormuz, the key pathway for oil shipping that has been choked off during the war, triggering a global energy supply shock.

The U.S. on Monday launched Project Freedom, an effort to guide stranded commercial ships out of the Persian Gulf in spite of Iranian threats in the strait. But Trump abruptly paused that plan one day later, citing progress in negotiations with Iran.

NBC News reported Wednesday that the U-turn came after Saudi Arabia, a key regional ally, was angered by the operation and moved to suspend the U.S. military from using its bases and airspace.

On Thursday afternoon, The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have lifted those restrictions and that the Trump administration is now looking to restart Project Freedom in the coming days.

Senior Iranian official Mohsen Rezaee, meanwhile, said Tehran would not let the U.S. reopen the strait with “an unrealistic plan,” The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing Iran state broadcaster Press TV.

Rezaee, who was referring to the reported 14-point proposal from the U.S., also said the outcome of any negotiations must include “tangible benefits” for Iran, instead of a “flamboyant gesture.”