Former Iranian VP says Trump gave false description of Iran in Riyadh speech

Iran has not received any new proposal from the United States to resolve its nuclear standoff, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed senior Iranian official, denying reports of recent written offers.

The official said Tehran would only consider sending enriched uranium abroad if US sanctions are lifted “verifiably and effectively.”

Sending uranium enriched above 5% abroad has always been part of Iran’s nuclear discussions with the United States, the official added.

Earlier in the day, Axios reported that White House envoy Steve Witkoff had delivered a written proposal to Iran during talks in Oman, marking the first such offer since negotiations resumed in April.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday he supports negotiations and peace, but not under coercion.

“We will negotiate with strength and dignity, not under a gun to our head,” he told political activists in Kermanshah, adding that Iran will not compromise on its core beliefs.

Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday following remarks by US President Donald Trump suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran may be near, but analysts say any boost to global oil supply would likely belimited, according to a Bloomberg analysis.

Speaking in Qatar, Trump said “we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal” with Tehran. Brent crude dropped as much as 4% on the news, amid reports that an agreement could ease sanctions and increase Iranian oil exports.

However, analysts quoted by Bloomber said that Iran has limited spare capacity—estimated between 300,000 and 400,000 barrels per day—equivalent to about 0.3%–0.4% of global demand.

“Let’s just assume all sanctions were going to be lifted, the actual volume coming back to the market is not going to be that much,” said Amrita Sen of Energy Aspects.

Iran’s output was 3.4 million barrels a day in April, with capacity capped around 3.8 million, according to the International Energy Agency. The IEA also said that global inventories are set to rise, signaling an oversupplied market regardless of Iranian flows.

While much of Iran’s crude is already reaching markets through shadow fleets, tighter US sanctions could push exports below 1 million barrels per day, Bloomberg added.

Cécile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris have been held in Iran since May 2022 on espionage charges that Paris has strongly denied.

French authorities accuse Tehran of subjecting the couple to conditions akin to torture in Tehran’s Evin prison and failing to provide consular access.

“I can confirm that France will bring a case before the International Court of Justice tomorrow,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine.

Iranian state television previously broadcast videos of the two appearing to confess, but France has denounced the footage as the result of forced confessions.

Earlier in the month, French President Emmanuel Macron has referred to the couple as “hostages” and vowed to secure their release, as France and other EU states accuse Iran of engaging in “hostage diplomacy” by detaining foreign nationals to extract political concessions.

An unknown number of international citizens are being held by Tehran, including Europeans.

In January, the European Parliament adopted a motion for a resolution condemning Iran’s detention of European Union citizens, labelling the practice as “hostage diplomacy.”

Iran has denied mistreatment or political motives in the detentions, although reports by rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have documented the practice extensively, including the use of forced confessions.

A senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday that the United States is too weakened to confront Iran militarily or defeat regional groups such as Hamas.

Speaking at a memorial ceremony in eastern Iran, IRGC Deputy Commander Brigadier General Ali Fadavi accused Washington of decades of failure in the region.

“The United States could not even eliminate a small group like Hamas,” he said. “Its inability is now clear to the whole world.”

Fadavi also blamed the US for fueling regional conflicts, saying that the Islamic State (ISIS) originated “from within America” and was defeated by Iran-backed forces in Syria and Iraq.