What the U.S. and Iran are demanding in the latest peace proposal

By — Liz Landers Liz Landers By — Doug Adams Doug Adams Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-the-u-s-and-iran-are-demanding-in-the-latest-peace-proposal Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio The U.S. and Iran both say they are inching closer to a deal to end the war that started nearly four months ago. But as with previous announcements, there are few details on the timing and execution of any agreement. White House correspondent Liz Landers reports. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Amna Nawaz: Welcome to the "News Hour." The U.S. and Iran both say they are inching closer to a deal today to end the war that the U.S. and Israel started with Iran nearly four months ago. Geoff Bennett: But as with previous announcements, from the U.S. side in particular, there was little in the way of detail on timing and execution of any agreement and major differences in the public pronouncements of what exactly is in this so-called memorandum of understanding. Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, has been reporting on this all day and is here to update us. So, Liz, you were on a briefing call today with a senior White House official. What is the White House saying is in this deal? Liz Landers: Yes, this call was held because the administration says that they are tired of seeing misreporting and the back-and-forth that we have seen play out on social media about this. So a senior U.S. official laid out what the U.S. is asking for right now and what these demands are from the U.S. side. First of all, they're demanding that the Strait of Hormuz be open and that this would lift the blockade, secondly, dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program and the U.S. removes that enriched uranium material, that it will be destroyed on site and then taken out of the country. That this would also guarantee for a long-term peace in the region, that Iran would no longer fund proxy groups that are violent towards other countries, and that Iran's territorial sovereignty would also be respected, and then, finally, enforceable inspection regimen with a long-term commitment. Now, Geoff, in exchange for all of this, Iran would get sanctions relief, which has been crippling for that country for a number of years now. This official said that, going forward, they would get rewarded for -- quote -- "acting like a normal country." This official was optimistic that the U.S. and Iran could reach this deal, saying they were about 80 to 85 percent of the way there. They did not give a timeline on when this could be signed, but acknowledged that it could happen in Europe. Geoff Bennett: Eighty to 85 percent of the way there. What about the sticking points over Iran's nuclear program? Liz Landers: That remains a sticking point. And this U.S. official did acknowledge that, saying that they do b