US sets new demands for Iran deal: What are they?

US Vice President Vance’s call for reduced nuclear enrichment suggests room for compromise, but major obstacles remain.

US Vice President JD Vance speaks during a news conference in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, on September 22, 2026, in Washington, DC [Alex Brandon/AP]

United States Vice President JD Vance has called for Iran to make a “meaningful” reduction in its uranium enrichment capacity as part of an agreement to end the war, a demand experts say may signal a softening of Washington’s earlier insistence that Tehran abandon enrichment altogether.

His comments come amid hardline rhetoric from other senior US officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reiterated that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, while President Donald Trump has warned the war will end through either “the nice way or the not-so-nice way”.

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Officials in Tehran, meanwhile, have questioned whether Washington genuinely wants negotiations as the US-Israel war on Iran enters its eighth month.

As both sides stake out their positions, Simon Mabon, a professor of international relations at Lancaster University, told Al Jazeera that the prospect of Iran seeking a nuclear weapon has remained remote. Tehran’s negotiators are more concerned with sanctions, frozen Iranian assets, the US naval blockade and fighting across the region – issues he says remain the main obstacles to a deal.

Here is what we know.

What has the US said?

Vance told the Reuters news agency that Iran needed to demonstrate its commitment to not developing nuclear weapons by changing its enrichment programme. “If you don’t want a nuclear weapon, then why do you need 60 percent enriched fuel?” he said.

“If you want to show commitment to not building a nuclear weapon, don’t build highly enriched fuel. That’s a very basic threshold issue.”

Enriching uranium makes it usable as fuel for nuclear reactors or, at much higher levels, for nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had enriched uranium to 60 percent, below the roughly 90 percent considered weapons-grade. In its May 2025 assessment, it found no credible indications of a structured nuclear programme.

Vance added that the US was speaking with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, although “it’s not totally clear how their country makes decisions”.

Meanwhile, Rubio, speaking to reporters in Athens, accused Iran of missing several opportunities to reach an agreement.

“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, simple, period, end of story,” he said.

He also claimed Iran had “lost complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz and that its economy was “in total and complete freefall”. Under “crippling” sanctions, it was “about to reach a place few countries in the world have been”, he argued.

Analysts say the comments suggest pressure on Tehran remains central to Washington’s approach, even as Vance’s wording leaves open questions about what nuclear restrictions it would accept.

Pezeshkian said on Monday that negotiations with Washington were “futile”, accusing the US of using talks while pursuing Iran’s government.

“Our problem with the United States is that every time we come to the negotiating table, war is immediately imposed upon us,” he said during a meeting with Armenia’s foreign minister.

“They have attacked us three times following talks so far; this demonstrates that they do not seek dialogue. On the contrary, their goal is to bring down the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

“With an enemy that resorts daily to assassination, sanctions, pressure and threats – and breaks its promises – negotiations become futile, and our nation will not accept such an approach.”

However, Araghchi, addressing foreign ambassadors in Tehran on October 4, said, “Only negotiations based on justice and fairness” could end the conflict, suggesting there is still room for negotiations to continue and a deal to follow.

The statements follow an Iranian proposal presented during the United Nations General Assembly in New York in late September to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume negotiations. Trump subsequently rejected it.

How does this compare with previous proposals?

Iran’s latest proposal sought to build on the June 17 memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries, which briefly eased the conflict before breaking down. The new proposal, offered a few weeks ago, essentially compressed the timetable and changed the sequence of steps towards a settlement.

The proposal outlined that fighting would stop on all fronts, including Israel’s offensive in Lebanon. Washington would lift its naval blockade and oil sanctions, and release frozen Iranian assets. The Strait of Hormuz would reopen after seven days, followed by negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Experts say the proposal could have offered Trump a route to restoring shipping ahead of November’s US midterm elections. But differences over the sequence of events remain unresolved.

However, Mabon told Al Jazeera that Washington’s focus on enrichment risked overlooking Tehran’s priorities. “The US is trying to soften its stance on the nuclear question with the Iranians, but for the Iranians, this isn’t the real sticking point. It’s the blockade, the lifting of sanctions, the unfreezing of assets and an end to conflicts across the region.”

A deal allowing limited enrichment would also invite comparisons with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, negotiated under US President Barack Obama. The agreement restricted Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump withdrew the US from it in 2018.

Mabon said a nuclear agreement had been possible before the current war. “Arguably, a nuclear deal was within reach at several points. We had the JCPOA, of course, but then the Iranians were at the point of agreeing something similar back in February and January. The talks mediated then all suggested a nuclear agreement could be reached, and yet, the decision was taken to go to war.”

What are the other obstacles to a deal?

Mabon said Tehran would need commitments extending beyond the nuclear question. “I think the Iranians would require the lifting of sanctions, the lifting of the blockade and the unfreezing of assets, or at least a road map to that, alongside an end to the conflict in Lebanon and a permanent ceasefire in the Gulf.”

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains another source of uncertainty, despite Rubio’s claim that Iran has lost control of the waterway.

Although Gulf oil exports have recovered significantly, attacks on vessels continue. On Tuesday, 12 crew members on board a Panama-flagged tanker were injured by an unknown projectile while crossing the strait, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said.

Gulf oil flows, excluding Iran, reached more than 81 percent of pre-war levels in September, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler. Wider Middle East crude exports exceeded pre-war levels on 14 days that month.

The recovery could ease pressure on the US to reach an agreement, although continuing attacks leave questions over how secure the passage is.

Mabon said Washington’s apparent softening on enrichment suggested it remained uncertain about how fully shipping through Hormuz had recovered.

“If the Americans were confident the strait was open properly, then they’d be pushing for a harder deal.”

美国副总统万斯呼吁降低核浓缩水平，这表明存在妥协的空间，但仍然存在重大障碍。

2026年9月22日，美国副总统JD Vance在华盛顿特区白宫艾森豪威尔行政办公楼南庭礼堂举行的新闻发布会上发表讲话。[Alex Brandon/AP]

美国副总统万斯呼吁伊朗大幅削减其铀浓缩能力，作为结束战争协议的一部分。专家表示，这一要求可能预示着华盛顿此前坚持要求德黑兰彻底放弃铀浓缩的立场有所软化。

他的这番言论是在其他美国高级官员发表强硬言论之际发表的。国务卿马可·卢比奥重申伊朗不能拥有核武器，而总统唐纳德·特朗普则警告说，这场战争要么“以友好的方式”结束，要么“以不那么友好的方式”结束。

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与此同时，德黑兰官员质疑，随着美以对伊朗的战争进入第八个月，华盛顿是否真的希望进行谈判。

双方都在表明立场，兰卡斯特大学国际关系学教授西蒙·马邦告诉半岛电视台，伊朗寻求核武器的可能性仍然很小。德黑兰的谈判代表更关注制裁、冻结的伊朗资产、美国的海上封锁以及该地区的冲突——他表示，这些问题仍然是达成协议的主要障碍。

以下是我们目前所了解的情况。

美国方面说了什么？

万斯告诉路透社，伊朗需要通过改变其浓缩铀计划来表明其不发展核武器的决心。“如果你不想拥有核武器，那你为什么需要60%浓缩铀呢？”他说道。

“如果你想表明不制造核武器的决心，那就不要制造高浓缩燃料。这是一个非常基本的底线问题。”

浓缩铀可使其用作核反应堆燃料，或在更高浓度下用于制造核武器。国际原子能机构报告称，伊朗已将铀浓缩至60%，低于被视为武器级铀的约90%的浓缩度。在其2025年5月的评估中，该机构未发现任何可信的迹象表明伊朗拥有结构化的核计划。

万斯补充说，美国正在与伊朗总统马苏德·佩泽什基安和外交部长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇进行对话，尽管“伊朗是如何做出决定的，目前还不完全清楚”。

与此同时，鲁比奥在雅典对记者发表讲话时指责伊朗错失了多次达成协议的机会。

他说：“伊朗不能拥有核武器，就这么简单，没别的可说了。”

他还声称伊朗已经“完全失去了对霍尔木兹海峡的控制权”，其经济“彻底崩溃”。他认为，在“严厉的”制裁下，伊朗“即将跌至世界上极少数国家都未曾触及的境地”。

分析人士表示，这些评论表明，对德黑兰施压仍然是华盛顿政策的核心，尽管万斯的措辞并未明确说明华盛顿会接受哪些核限制措施。

佩泽什基安周一表示，与华盛顿的谈判是“徒劳的”，并指责美国利用谈判来追究伊朗政府的责任。

“我们与美国之间的问题是，每次我们坐到谈判桌前，战争都会立即强加给我们，”他在与亚美尼亚外交部长会晤时说道。

据伊朗官方通讯社伊通社报道，他说：“迄今为止，他们在谈判后已经三次袭击我们；这表明他们根本不寻求对话。相反，他们的目标是推翻伊朗伊斯兰共和国。”

“面对一个每天都诉诸暗杀、制裁、施压和威胁，并且违背承诺的敌人，谈判将变得徒劳无功，我国绝不会接受这种做法。”

然而，阿拉格奇在10月4日于德黑兰向外国大使发表讲话时表示，“只有基于正义和公平的谈判”才能结束冲突，这表明谈判仍有继续的空间，并有可能达成协议。

此前，伊朗于9月下旬在纽约联合国大会上提出一项提议，旨在重新开放霍尔木兹海峡并恢复谈判。但特朗普随后拒绝了该提议。

与之前的方案相比，这个方案有何不同？

伊朗最新提出的方案旨在巩固两国于6月17日签署的谅解备忘录。该备忘录曾短暂缓和冲突，但随后破裂。几周前提出的新方案实质上缩短了时间表，并改变了达成和解的步骤顺序。

该提议概述了所有战线停止战斗，包括以色列在黎巴嫩的攻势。华盛顿将解除对伊朗的海上封锁和石油制裁，并解冻被冻结的伊朗资产。霍尔木兹海峡将在七天后重新开放，随后将就伊朗核计划展开谈判。

专家表示，该提议本可为特朗普在11月美国中期选举前恢复航运提供一条途径。但各方在事件顺序上的分歧仍未解决。

然而，马邦告诉半岛电视台，华盛顿对铀浓缩的关注可能会忽视德黑兰的优先事项。“美国试图在核问题上软化与伊朗的立场，但对伊朗人来说，这并非真正的症结所在。真正的症结在于解除封锁、解除制裁、解冻资产以及结束整个地区的冲突。”

允许有限度浓缩铀的协议，也难免会让人联想到2015年美国总统奥巴马时期谈判达成的《联合全面行动计划》（JCPOA）。该协议限制了伊朗的核计划，以换取制裁的解除。特朗普于2018年宣布美国退出该协议。

马邦表示，在当前战争爆发前，达成核协议是可能的。“可以说，在好几个阶段，核协议都触手可及。当然，我们有伊核协议（JCPOA），但伊朗在2月和1月也几乎同意达成类似的协议。当时的斡旋谈判都表明，达成核协议是可能的，然而，最终却决定发动战争。”

达成交易还有哪些其他障碍？

马邦表示，德黑兰需要的承诺不仅限于核问题。“我认为伊朗方面需要解除制裁、解除封锁和解冻资产，或者至少需要一份实现这些目标的路线图，同时还要结束黎巴嫩冲突，并在海湾地区实现永久停火。”

尽管鲁比奥声称伊朗已经失去了对霍尔木兹海峡的控制，但通过该海峡的航运仍然是另一个不确定因素。

尽管海湾地区的石油出口已显著复苏，但针对船只的袭击事件仍在继续。印度外交部周二表示，一艘悬挂巴拿马国旗的油轮在穿越霍尔木兹海峡时，船上12名船员被不明飞行物击伤。

据海事情报公司Kpler的数据显示，9月份海湾地区（不包括伊朗）的石油流量已恢复到战前水平的81%以上。当月，中东地区整体原油出口量有14天超过了战前水平。

通道的恢复可能会减轻美国达成协议的压力，但持续不断的袭击让人对该通道的安全性产生疑问。

马邦表示，华盛顿方面在浓缩铀问题上的明显软化表明，它仍然不确定霍尔木兹海峡的航运已经完全恢复到什么程度。

“如果美国人确信海峡已经完全开放，那么他们就会力争达成更严格的协议。”