Negotiators face huge task to close gaps in rival Iran peace proposals

Negotiators face huge task to close gaps in rival Iran peace proposals29 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GooglePaul AdamsDiplomatic correspondentEPAThere are two weeks to talk, and war may return if no deal is reached With minutes before a self-imposed deadline – and an unprecedented threat to wipe out Iran's "civilisation" - US President Donald Trump announced that a two-week ceasefire had been agreed to halt the war. The mediators, Pakistan, are due to host American and Iranian negotiators for talks in Islamabad, possibly as early as Friday.Many issues remain unresolved, starting with the basis of negotiations.In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the US had received a 10-point proposal from Iran which he described as "a workable basis on which to negotiate".Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also mentioned the US 15-point proposal Trump's chief negotiators have said could end the conflict.Neither set of proposals has been formally unveiled – even though reported versions of both have been leaked and published and appear to be oceans apart when it comes to what each side expects to happen.Adding to the confusion is the White House's angry insistence that the Iranian plan being discussed in the media is not the "working framework" received by US officials."A lot of details are not very clear," Anwar Gargash, senior diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, told the BBC."There are different statements coming out of Iran, from Washington and from the Pakistani mediator," he said. "So, we need to reconcile the details of these statements and understand exactly what the way forward is."What are some of the central issues at stake?Iran's nuclear programmeThe accusation that Iran was racing to develop a nuclear weapon was always cited as Washington's primary reason to go to war – despite long-standing denials by Tehran.Publicly at least, American officials appear to belie...