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After weeks of refusing to budge, Iran is reviewing a set of proposals from mediators that could shape the future of its nuclear programme. That is the account of five officials briefed on the negotiations, reported by The New York Times on Thursday — and if it is accurate, it may be the first real sign of progress in a diplomatic effort that is racing against the threat of a return to full-scale war.
What the officials say
The five officials — including one American and two Iranians, all speaking anonymously — described the terms under review as "concrete proposals" but did not disclose their contents. What they did describe is a diplomatic blitz led by Qatar: two rounds of talks in Tehran and a third hosted in Doha over the past week, with Qatari representatives also meeting Iranian officials in Armenia. Iran's Foreign Ministry did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment.
Three of the officials said US Vice President JD Vance has emerged as a key supporter of Qatar's mediation effort, working to avert a military escalation. Last month, Vance sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, proposing direct peace talks that would also address the nuclear programme. Rezaei is now leading the negotiations with the Qataris, alongside Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — and, according to the officials, he has shown greater willingness to discuss the nuclear issue than Tehran's earlier posture suggested.
The obstacle that has not moved
The central sticking point remains Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium. According to an International Atomic Energy Agency assessment, Iran held roughly 440 kilograms of the material as of June 2025 — an amount experts say could potentially be used to produce several nuclear weapons. The US position, as stated by President Donald Trump, is that Iran must surrender the stockpile. Tehran insists the uranium will not leave the country, and in earlier rounds proposed diluting it domestically under international inspection instead.
There is also a second, parallel track that complicates the picture. A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday that Iran has sent the US its own nuclear proposal via Qatar — but that Tehran will discuss it only after Washington meets its seven demands, which include releasing frozen Iranian assets, easing sanctions on Iranian oil and ending the US naval blockade of Iranian ports. Washington is said to be reviewing that proposal, though it has not publicly confirmed receiving it.
Why the timing matters
The diplomacy is unfolding under the shadow of war. The Times report describes the development as a possible breakthrough precisely because the alternative is stark: the US and Israel are weighing a major attack on Iran, and the talks in Doha are explicitly aimed at preventing a return to full-scale conflict. As of Thursday, both Iran and the US were still reviewing the mediators' latest proposals, trying to bridge their remaining differences.
Whether this is a genuine opening or a stalling tactic will become clear in the coming days — above all in whether Tehran moves on the uranium stockpile, the one issue no proposal can dodge. For the wider regional picture, see our earlier reports on Iran's new tactics around the Strait of Hormuz and the proposed Trump–Xi summit on Ukraine.