Trump discussed a new Iranian proposal with his national security team

US President Donald Trump gathered his senior national security advisors on Monday to discuss an Iranian proposal that reportedly includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, at a time when negotiations are faltering regarding a ceasefire and the resumption of navigation in the sea lane.

In response to a question about this proposal, which was reported to include reopening the Strait in exchange for the United States lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said in a press conference that “the proposal is under discussion.”

“Once it has been reported, I will confirm that the president met this morning with his national security team,” she added, declining to say whether Trump would accept the proposal or not.

For his part, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Iran’s position on the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes, does not meet American demands.

Rubio told Fox News: “If what they mean by opening the Strait is that the Strait is open as long as there is coordination with Iran and obtaining its permission, otherwise it attacks you and you pay it, then this is not opening the Strait.”

Rubio stressed, “We cannot normalize a regime like this, and we cannot tolerate their attempt to normalize a regime in which the Iranians decide who is allowed to use an international waterway, and how much they must be paid for using it.”

The Axios website had previously reported that Trump’s meeting with his advisors “will address the current impasse in the negotiations with Iran and the possible options for the next stages of the war.”

For its part, ABC quoted two American officials who are “keeping pace with the preparations” that “the Trump administration is showing increasing confidence in the impact of its naval blockade on Iranian ports, (compared to) increasing skepticism about the ability of discussions with Iran’s current negotiators to achieve the desired results.”

The channel quoted them as saying that the conditions put forward by Tehran appear to be “much lower than the red lines set by the administration.”

According to Levitt, “the president’s red lines with regard to Iran have been clearly made clear, not only to American public opinion, but to them as well.”

Axios reported that Iran’s proposal aims to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, with negotiations to take place at a later date on the nuclear file.

Attempts to revive the negotiations hosted by the Pakistani capital at the beginning of April have failed so far.

In a related context, Russian President Vladimir Putin informed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that Moscow will do everything in its power to help bring peace to the Middle East, during a meeting held Monday in St. Petersburg.

Upon his arrival in Russia, Araghchi held the United States responsible for the failure of the talks that were expected in Islamabad to reach an agreement to end the war, while the ceasefire between Tehran and Washington is still holding.