During peace negotiations held in Islamabad over the weekend, the United States requested that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment activities for 20 years, according to a report by the New York Times.
The Iranians, in a formal response sent on Monday, said they would agree to up to five years, according to two senior Iranian officials and one US official who spoke to the New York Times.
President Donald Trump has rejected that offer, the US official said.
The official said the U.S. has also asked Iran to remove highly enriched uranium from the country, and the Iranians have insisted the fuel stays inside Iran. But they have offered to dilute it significantly, so that it could not be used to produce a nuclear weapon.
There are also discussions of holding another round of in-person negotiations, but officials told the New York Times no plans have been finalized.
Vice President JD Vance, who led the US delegation to the talks in Islamabad, announced early Sunday morning that no agreement had been reached and the delegation would be returning to Washington.
On Monday, Vance told Fox News’ Bret Baier that, despite the fact that no agreement was ultimately reached between the sides, some progress was made.
“I wouldn't just say that things went wrong, I also think things went right. We made a lot of progress, but we also made very clear, and I think this is part of the progress we made, what the terms where the United States could make some accommodation, what terms we were flexible on, and what things we absolutely needed to see in order for the President of the United States to feel like he was getting a good deal," Vance said.
He stated that the US red lines for Iran all flow from Trump’s fundamental red line that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.
The Vice President made clear that “the ball really is in [the Iranians’] court. We've made clear where we're willing, again, to be accommodating, and we've made clear where we absolutely need to see the nuclear material come out of the country of Iran."
Earlier on Monday, US President Donald Trump warned Iran that the US would seize and remove Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium if the Islamic Republic does not reach an agreement.
“We’ve been called by the other side," Trump said. “They’d like to make a deal very badly." He added that "we're gonna get the dust back," a reference to Iran's current store of highly enriched uranium. "We'll [either] get it back from Iran or we'll take it."