The United States and Iran are reviewing a Qatari-brokered draft that would trade a set of reciprocal steps over two days, according to Axios, as reported by Sky News Arabia. The proposal would see Washington lift its naval blockade on Iran and unfreeze part of Iran's held assets, while Tehran invites international nuclear inspectors back to bomb-damaged sites. The outline was published on Thursday.
The reported aim is to rebuild confidence between the two sides and set conditions for broader negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. Qatari mediators are said to be in continuing consultations with Iranian officials and the White House over the draft text.
Why it matters
The sequencing in the draft addresses what has been one of the central deadlocks in the talks. Washington has insisted that nuclear concessions come from the outset of any process, including international access to Iranian facilities and discussion of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Tehran has held that the blockade must end and economic pressure must ease before the nuclear file is addressed.
The proposal also lands at a moment of regional alarm about a return to open fighting. President Donald Trump met his senior national security advisers on Thursday — his first such session on Iran since the US midterm elections — and told reporters at the White House that he would soon decide on resuming military operations. He said he would prefer to avoid further destruction but did not rule out new strikes.
According to Axios, the administration is weighing three paths: renewed military attacks, continued economic pressure, or a deal involving concessions from both capitals. US Central Command is meanwhile preparing for the possibility of a renewed large-scale campaign, though a US official told the outlet that no fresh instructions have arrived from Washington.
How the two-day sequence is meant to work
Under the draft described by Axios, the first day would bring the lifting of the US naval blockade and the release of a portion of Iran's frozen funds. In return, Tehran would formally ask the International Atomic Energy Agency to send inspectors to nuclear facilities that have been struck, drawing on an arrangement reached in Cairo a year ago.
On the second day, the Strait of Hormuz would reopen to shipping traffic. Nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran would then resume, with attention centered on Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile. The strait is a vital conduit for global energy shipments, and its closure has been among the most visible costs of the confrontation.
The Axios account was written by its correspondent Barak Raviv, and the outlet attributed the details to regional sources.
Iran's conditions and the shrinking timetable
Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a senior Iranian official, that Tehran had passed a nuclear proposal to Washington through Qatar, but that talks would not begin until the US responds to Iranian demands. Those demands include lifting American sanctions, freeing Iran's frozen assets, and paying compensation for the war, according to the account carried by Sky News Arabia.
Iran is holding to seven conditions for restarting negotiations and reopening the strait, even as it has shown willingness to shorten the time frame for carrying out any eventual agreement. In September, Tehran put forward a plan for reciprocal steps spread across seven days; that schedule has since been cut to two days without altering its core terms.
The American side, for its part, continues to insist that the nuclear file be part of the negotiations from the start, including international inspectors' access to Iranian sites and the question of what happens to the enriched uranium stockpile.
What to watch
Trump has said a decision on renewed military action is close, and the coming days will show whether the Qatari draft becomes the basis for talks or is overtaken by the administration's other options.
