American President Donald Trump wants to end the Iran war with a peace pact.Image: Laurent Gillieron/Keystone
The American government is negotiating with the Iranian regime to end the war. Four questions and answers about these talks that could soon take place in Geneva.
May 6, 2026, 10:25 p.mMay 6, 2026, 10:25 p.m
Washington does not trust the new leadership in Tehran. The Trump administration doesn’t know whether it can trust the assurances of Iranian negotiators – and whether they really speak for the entire regime. Trump repeatedly calls for a complete abandonment of the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Now Tehran appears to have agreed to refrain from enriching uranium for at least twelve years. “Axios” also reported that Iran would take all highly enriched uranium out of the country, probably to the USA.
Could the war soon be officially over?
Trump seems to vacillate back and forth. On Tuesday he spoke about the “great progress” in negotiations with Iran. On Wednesday he again threatened the next bombing campaign on the Internet service Truth Social. The president also told the New York Post tabloid that it was still “too early” to resume direct peace negotiations with the Pakistani government. The USA and Iran last spoke to each other about ending the war in Islamabad in mid-April.
But it appears that the two sides are slowly getting closer to negotiating a memorandum of understanding. There is currently a deadline during which Tehran can comment on the 14 points that should lead to an end to the war.
What is in this declaration of intent?
Iran is said to have agreed to stop enriching uranium in the future. In return, Washington wants to remove sanctions against the regime and release frozen funds, as the news portal Axios reported. Both sides also want to promise to no longer block the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
The bottom line is that this sounds like the peace plan that the Americans and the Iranians negotiated in Pakistan a few weeks ago. The two-stage approach is new. First, a letter of intent should be approved. The two sides then want to negotiate a detailed peace agreement over 30 days.
In addition to Islamabad, Geneva is also being discussed as a venue for negotiations because the Swiss city is better located in terms of transport. Trump had complained several times in recent weeks that the American delegation had to sit on a plane for hours to travel to Islamabad. “It’s too far away,” he emphasized to the New York Post.
Why are these conversations stalling?
Washington does not trust the new leadership in Tehran. The Trump administration doesn’t know whether it can trust the assurances of Iranian negotiators – and whether they really speak for the entire regime. Trump repeatedly calls for a complete abandonment of the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Now Tehran appears to have agreed to refrain from enriching uranium for at least twelve years. “Axios” also reported that Iran would take all highly enriched uranium out of the country, probably to the USA.
From Iran’s perspective, these would be enormous concessions. And it seems at least questionable that all power centers in Tehran will agree to such a solution. In any case, a parliamentary representative spoke of an “American wish list” in his first reaction. Meanwhile, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy announced on X that it would continue to control the Strait of Hormuz. A container ship belonging to the French logistics company CMA CGM but sailing under the flag of Malta was attacked in the strait on Wednesday.
What happens next?
The American deadline for Iran expires on Thursday or Friday. The Foreign Ministry in Tehran announced via a quasi-governmental news agency that it was currently examining the Americans’ demands. The Pakistani prime minister, who is mediating between the USA and Iran, was confident about “the momentum” in the negotiations. (aargauerzeitung.ch)