WASHINGTON — Talks between the US and Iran on a deal permanently ending the war between them hit another dead end over the weekend after Tehran submitted a proposal that sought to push off concessions it would make regarding its nuclear program, a US official and two diplomats from mediating countries told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.

The US had been waiting for a week and a half for Iran to respond to its proposal that envisioned Tehran agreeing to have its stockpiles of enriched uranium transferred out of the country and agreeing not to enrich uranium for an extended period of time, the three sources said.

But when that response finally came on Sunday, the US saw that it didn’t include any concessions regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Instead, it offered an Iranian commitment to immediately hold talks on the nuclear file once a permanent ceasefire was in place that would include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the sources said, offering details on the breakdown of talks that had not been published to date.

Iran’s response, bucking US demands that it make up-front concessions regarding its nuclear program, demonstrated how emboldened the Islamic Republic feels after weathering nearly six weeks of US and Israel strikes followed by an American blockade of its ports, one of the diplomats said. “It thinks it’s in the driver’s seat.”

While the US proposal effectively envisioned an extension of the temporary ceasefire already in place since April 8, Iran’s proposal detailed a permanent end of hostilities between the countries that included guarantees not to restart the war, according to the three sources.

Both proposals did envision follow-up, technical negotiations on the nuclear file, but the US sought some concessions up-front pertaining to Iran’s stockpiles of over 400 kilograms of highly-enriched uranium, which are thought to be buried deep underground, below at least one of the three nuclear facilities struck by........

© The Times of Israel