Iran has questioned the seriousness of American peace efforts after naval clashes in the Gulf.
Tehran is keeping Washington waiting for a response to its latest negotiating position, which had been expected on Friday evening.
On Saturday, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, called into question the reliability of the US leadership, in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart.
According to the Iranian ISNA news agency, he said: “The recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy.”
On Friday, an American jet fired on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that Washington accused of challenging its naval blockade of Iran’s ports.
The action prompted Iranian retaliatory attacks. An Iranian military official told local media that the country’s navy had “responded to the violation of the ceasefire and to American terrorism with strikes” but “the clashes have now ceased”.
The incident came after a previous flare-up on Thursday night in the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a 14-point proposal to extend the truce to allow talks on a final settlement of the conflict.
The plan would formally end the war launched by the US and Israel on Feb 28, and start a 30-day negotiation period to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Under the memorandum, Iran would also agree not to develop a nuclear weapon and would halt uranium enrichment for at least 12 years in exchange for sanctions relief, according to Axios.
Esmaeil Baqaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, said that the proposal was still “under review.”
Europe ‘will keep Nato going’
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said on Saturday that Europe wanted to keep Nato functioning, after tension with Donald Trump’s US administration over the Iran war raised questions about its future.
“We are really willing to keep this alliance alive for the future,” Mr Merz said at a press conference with Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish prime minister.
He said Sweden and Finland had strengthened the European pillar of the alliance, adding: “We know that there are some differences.
“We know that we are seeing challenges, all of us, but our final goal is to bring this conflict to an end and to guarantee that Iran is not able to produce nuclear weapons. And this goal is a common goal between America and Europe.”
After Mr Merz said last month that Iran was “humiliating” the US, Mr Trump hit back by ordering that 5,000 US troops be withdrawn from the country, probably for redeployment to Poland.
Mr Merz said the main issue was not troop numbers but “unity of purpose” and that it was in the US interest to have a strong European component in Nato.
He said: “We are remaining interested and highly interested in having the American army and the American military support on our side. So this is something we are having in common and we are trying to achieve that currently.”
