Iran is considering the US proposal to end the war, official says

Negotiations between the United States and Iran over Iran's nuclear programme have a long and discontinuous history. The 2015 agreement, known as the JCPOA, was the moment of greatest rapprochement: Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. The US withdrawal from the agreement in 2018 under the Trump administration and Iran's response of accelerating enrichment left the process at a point of uncertainty that subsequent administrations have tried to unblock with different diplomatic approaches.

The mention of a 14-point memorandum of understanding suggests a more complex document than previous agreements, probably because the geopolitical context has changed significantly since 2015. Iran's nuclear capabilities advanced considerably during the years without an agreement. The negotiating framework has to accommodate that reality, along with the concerns of regional allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia, whose opposition to any agreement they perceive as insufficient is a constant political factor.

That Iran is "considering" the proposal, according to government sources, does not imply it will accept it. The diplomatic process with Iran has a history of phases of openness followed by hardening of positions. Internal pressure within Iran's political system, where there are actors with opposing interests regarding openness to dialogue with the West, is a variable that directly influences the speed and outcome of any negotiation.