Level 1 - Absolute Beginner
The United States and Iran are talking. President Trump said the US will not attack Iran before the big election on November 3.
Iran closed a very important sea road called the Strait of Hormuz. Many ships and much oil use this road. The US wants Iran to open it again.
Iran's foreign minister is Abbas Araghchi. He says Iran will send an answer in a few days. People hope the talks bring peace.
- strike
- an attack from the air or sea
- election
- a day when people vote for leaders
- talks
- a meeting to solve a problem with words
- strait
- a narrow sea road between two lands
- oil
- a liquid fuel that comes from under the ground
- answer
- what you say after a question
- peace
- a time without war
- ship
- a big boat
Level 2 - Elementary
President Donald Trump said on Thursday, October 8, that the United States will not order new military strikes on Iran before the midterm elections on November 3. In a post online he wrote that his team has been having productive talks with Iran.
The talks had stopped for a while. Mr. Trump had said no to an Iranian plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the US met some conditions. Later, Iran said it had received a new US offer.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran expects to send its formal reply within days. Reports also say a third US aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, could arrive in the region at the end of October.
- midterm elections
- votes held halfway through a president's term
- military
- connected to the army, navy or air force
- productive
- giving good results
- reopen
- to open again
- conditions
- things that must happen first
- counterproposal
- a new offer made in answer to another offer
- formal
- official and serious
- aircraft carrier
- a very large ship that carries planes
Level 3 - Intermediate
President Trump announced on October 8 that Washington will not resume military strikes on Iran before the November 3 midterm elections, adding that his negotiators have been holding productive discussions with Tehran. The statement is a notable pause in a conflict that has defined American foreign policy for months.
Negotiations had stalled after Mr. Trump publicly rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, provided the United States accepted certain conditions. Iran has since said it received a US counterproposal, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a formal response should follow within days. A June interim agreement meant to open a 60 day ceasefire collapsed within weeks amid renewed military action and disputes over who controls the waterway.
The diplomacy is happening alongside a military build up. Reports say the USS Theodore Roosevelt could become the third American carrier in the region by the end of the month. Critics argue the timing of the pledge looks political, while supporters say it gives diplomacy a real chance.
- resume
- to start again after a stop
- negotiators
- people who talk to reach an agreement
- stalled
- stopped making progress
- interim
- temporary, for the time between two events
- ceasefire
- an agreement to stop fighting
- waterway
- a river, canal or sea route that ships use
- build up
- a gradual increase in forces
- pledge
- a serious promise
Level 4 - Advanced
Donald Trump's declaration on October 8 that the United States will not order renewed strikes on Iran before the November 3 midterms injects a degree of predictability into a war that has repeatedly defied it. The president framed the commitment as the by product of productive discussions, though neither side has described a breakthrough.
The proximate obstacle remains the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Trump had spurned a Tehran proposal to reopen the channel within a week conditional on US concessions; Iran subsequently confirmed it had received an American counterproposal, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signalled that a formal reply would arrive within days. The precedent is not encouraging: a June interim accord, intended to underpin a 60 day truce, unravelled within weeks as military activity resumed and each side contested control of the waterway.
Meanwhile Washington is reinforcing its position. Reports indicate the USS Theodore Roosevelt could reach the theatre by late October, giving the US a third carrier. Analysts are divided over whether the pledge reflects genuine diplomatic intent or electoral calculation, and whether Tehran, which has traded leverage over shipping for relief from sanctions and blockade, will treat a pause with an expiry date as an opening or as a deadline.
- declaration
- a formal public statement
- predictability
- the quality of being easy to foresee
- proximate
- closest in cause or time
- spurned
- rejected with contempt
- concessions
- things given up to reach agreement
- unravelled
- fell apart gradually
- theatre
- a region where military operations take place
- leverage
- power to influence a result
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