Trump reviews Iran's latest proposal to end the war, meets with Gulf leaders as mediators hint at progress

US President Donald Trump on Saturday (local time) held meetings with Gulf and other regional leaders to review Iran’s latest proposal aimed at ending the nearly three-month-long war.

CNN reported that the regional leaders encouraged the US President to accept a framework agreement with Iran during their call earlier.

A regional diplomat told CNN, “The call was very positive. Good progress is being made. Regional leaders were supportive of the progress and of the breakthrough President Trump achieved with the talks.”

The development comes as mediators involved in talks in Tehran indicated that progress has been made toward forming a potential framework for a deal.

Speaking to Axios earlier today, the US President, in a phone interview, described the chances of reaching an agreement with Iran as a “solid 50/50” before the call with Gulf and other regional leaders, adding that he could decide by Sunday whether to resume military action against Iran.

He added that the talks could either lead to a “good” deal or result in the US choosing to “blow them to kingdom come.”

While a deal was not finalized, Pakistan said there was “encouraging progress toward a final understanding.”

Citing Pakistani sources, Reuters reported that an interim deal between the two countries is in its final phase, adding that Islamabad and Tehran have sent a revised proposal for Washington to review to end the conflict.

Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to hold a limited security meeting on Saturday evening with select ministers and security officials to assess developments related to the Iran negotiations, CNN reported.

The diplomatic push follows a meeting Trump held on Friday with senior US national security officials to discuss potential next steps in the conflict, including the option of resuming military operations.

He noted that Washington might have something to say on the issue in the next couple of days. Elaborating further, Rubio said, “There’s been some progress made, even as I speak to you. There is some work being done. There is a chance that, whether it’s later today, tomorrow, or in a couple of days, we may have something to say.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the MOU would focus on ending the war, ending the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, and the release of Tehran’s blocked assets overseas, but not its nuclear programme. He added, “Sanctions are definitely part of the negotiation topics, but since we are not discussing the nuclear issue at this stage, there will be no negotiation on the details of lifting sanctions either.”

The foreign ministry spokesperson also said that 30- and 60-day timeframes had been included in the text of the MOU; however, it had not been finalised.

“Over the past week, the viewpoints have been getting closer,” he said. “We must wait and see what will happen in the next three to four days,” FARS news agency quoted Baghaei.

He also highlighted that any mechanism concerning the Strait of Hormuz should be agreed between Iran, Oman, and the countries bordering the waterway, and that the United States “has nothing to do” with it.

In a statement, the military added that “intensive negotiations over the past twenty-four hours have led to encouraging progress toward a final understanding.”

While both Iranian and US leaders have suggested diplomatic progress and have adopted a more optimistic tone, it remains to be seen whether a peace deal will finally materialise, as Trump and his advisers have previously believed they were close to a deal at earlier stages in the war, but none has materialised.