White House Reviews Iran’s Peace Proposal as Putin Pledges Support to Tehran
WASHINGTON D.C. / ST. PETERSBURG — The White House confirmed on Monday that senior U.S. officials are evaluating a formal proposal from Tehran to end current hostilities and reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, even as Iranian leadership shored up its "strategic partnership" with Russia.
In Washington, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt informed reporters that President Trump has been briefed by his national security team regarding the offer. "I can confirm the President has met with his national security team this morning," Leavitt stated. "The proposal is being discussed."
A Strategic "Decoupling"
The Iranian peace plan reportedly seeks to separate the immediate military conflict and the maritime blockade from the broader, more contentious issue of its nuclear program.
End the current war and cease hostilities.
Reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.
Postpone nuclear negotiations to an unspecified future date.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed skepticism, insisting the U.S. would not tolerate a "new normal" where Iran imposes tolls or requires specific permissions for passage through international waters. "Those are international waterways," Rubio said. "They cannot normalize... a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use an international waterway."
Putin Vows Support in St. Petersburg
While Washington weighed the proposal, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to St. Petersburg for high-level talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
During the meeting at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library, Putin offered a staunch defense of Tehran, praising the Iranian people for "courageously and heroically" fighting for their sovereignty in the face of U.S.-Israeli attacks.
Key updates from the St. Petersburg meeting include:
Assurances of Support: Putin told Araghchi that Russia "will do everything" that serves Iran's interests to ensure peace is achieved as quickly as possible.
Strategic Partnership: Both nations reaffirmed their commitment to a long-term strategic relationship.
Araghchi noted that the conflict has proven that Iran has "great friends and allies like Russia." Direct Communication: Putin confirmed he had received a message from Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, and expressed hope that the Iranian people would overcome this "difficult period of trials."
Diplomatic Deadlock
The meeting, which included the chief of Russia's GRU military intelligence, underscores Moscow’s central role in the conflict.
However, the Trump administration maintains that it "holds all the cards" and will only accept a deal that definitively prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon—a demand that the current Iranian proposal appears to sideline.
As the White House deliberates, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) warns that the safety of 20,000 seafarers trapped in the Gulf remains the most urgent humanitarian concern of the ongoing standoff.
