US hopes Pakistan talks with Iran will advance peace deal

Trump insists US ‘will get’ Iran’s enriched uranium   Iran says examining fresh US proposal to end Middle East war   Supreme Leader says enriched uranium must stay in Iran   Rubio warns Trump has ‘been clear he has other options’ if no good Iran deal reached   Deal will be ‘unfeasible’ if Iran imposes toll on strait of hormuz.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States does not want tolls on the Strait of Hormuz and will retrieve Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.“We will get it. We don’t need it, we don’t want it. We’ll probably destroy it after we get it, but we’re not going to let them have it,” Trump tells reporters at the White House.

Last month, the president said he would like to see the U.S. collect tolls, but following a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the two sides had agreed “no country or organization can be allowed to charge tolls.”

Trump said outright on Thursday that Iran is “not charging tolls right now,” even though Iran said its newly formed Persian Gulf Strait Authority has begun collecting tolls“They’re not charging tolls right now,” Trump said Thursday. “They are losing $500 million a day, is what it’s projected. That sounds like a lot of money, but whether it’s 500 or 200 or 300 they’re losing a lot of money.” Iran has not said how much money it has collected for tolls.

“There hasn’t been a ship that’s been able to get through without our approval,” the US president said. The U.S. has redirected 94 commercial vessels heading either into or out of Iranian ports since the blockade began on the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said Thursday.Trump repeated the familiar conditions for peace that Iran should not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon when asked Thursday during an unrelated press conference with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

“Right now, we’re negotiating and we’ll see, but either we’re going to get it one way or the other,” Trump said, referring to whether a deal can be negotiated or bombing would resume. “They’re not gonna have a nuclear weapon, you know?”

Trump said if the question was put to Americans, “they will all agree” Iran cannot get a nuclear weapon.  “This is the nuclearization of a country that some people would say is somewhat crazy, and we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, that’s all it is,” he said. “We can’t let it.”“You will have a nuclear war in the Middle East, and that war will come here, that war will go to Europe,” Mr. Trump said. “We cannot let that happen, and it won’t happen. That’s more important than anything else.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a directive that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad, two senior Iranian sources said, hardening Tehran’s stance on one of the main U.S. demands at peace talks.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s order could further frustrate U.S. President Donald Trump and complicate talks on ending the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio renewed criticism of NATO for not supporting the US war on Iran, as he headed to alliance talks in Sweden.

“There are many countries in NATO that agree with us that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, that Iran is a threat to the world,” Rubio told reporters in Miami before leaving for the talks among NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden.

President Donald Trump “said, fine, I’m going to do something about it,” Rubio said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Also Said That that despite “good signs” in the talks with Iran, “other options” remain on the table.

Being careful not to sound overtly optimistic, Rubio tells reporters that while Pakistan and other regional allies are hard at work to bring a diplomatic resolution on Iran, with some officials traveling to Tehran today, Washington remains ready with alternative plans.

“The president’s preference is to do a good deal. That’s his preference. It’s always been his preference. If we can get a good deal done, that would be great,” he says. “But if we can’t get a good deal, the president’s been clear he has other options.”

A diplomatic deal between the United States and Iran will be “unfeasible” if Tehran implements a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells reporters.

“No one is in favor of a tolling system, it can’t happen, it would be unacceptable and it would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible,” Rubio says. “It’s a threat to the world if they were to try to do that, and it’s completely illegal by the way.”

Us Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope Thursday that a visit by Pakistan’s army chief to Iran would advance diplomatic efforts to broker an end of the country’s war with the U.S.

“I believe the Pakistanis will be traveling to Tehran today. So hopefully that’ll advance this further,” Rubio told reporters.

One of Pakistan’s top mediators in the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, Army Chief Asim Munir, was expected in Tehran Thursday as part of Islamabad’s efforts to broker a peace deal, according to Iranian news outlets.

Iran says examining US proposal to end Middle East war

Iran said it was examining a new US proposal to end the Middle East war, as President Donald Trump described the talks as being on the “borderline” between a deal and renewed strikes.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran had “received the points of view of the American side” and was examining them. He repeated Iran’s demands for the release of frozen assets and an end to the US blockade of Iranian ports.

Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir will decide on Thursday (21 May) whether to travel to Tehran as part of the mediation effort, three sources familiar with the negotiations told Reuters.

The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Pakistan’s interior minister was in Tehran on Wednesday (20 May), while Iran’s ISNA news agency reported that Munir would travel to Tehran for consultations.

“We’re speaking to all the various groups in Iran to streamline communication and so things pick up pace,” one of the sources said.

“Trump’s patience running thin is a concern, but we’re working on the pace at which messages are relayed from each side,” the source added.