Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
The United States and Iran will talk again on Monday. President Trump said this on social media.
Trump stopped a planned attack on Iran. He wants a peace deal instead.
The deal would open the Strait of Hormuz again. Many ships use this narrow sea passage.
Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said talks about the strait are almost finished.
- negotiation
- a discussion aimed at reaching an agreement
- resume
- to begin again after a pause
- cancel
- to stop something from happening
- strike
- a sudden military attack
- confidence
- a strong feeling that something is true or will happen
- strait
- a narrow strip of water connecting two larger seas
- foreign minister
- a government official in charge of relations with other countries
- deal
- an agreement between two or more sides
Level 2 — Elementary
President Trump announced that talks between the United States and Iran will resume on Monday afternoon, after he once again called off a planned military strike.
Trump said on social media that he is confident a deal has already been reached to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that ships use to carry oil out of the Middle East.
He added that an agreement ending Iran's nuclear threat should follow soon, though he did not set a deadline for finishing the talks.
Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that talks between Iran and Oman over how to manage shipping through the strait were in their final stages.
- announce
- to make something known publicly
- military
- relating to soldiers, armies, or war
- waterway
- a river, canal, or channel that boats can travel on
- nuclear
- relating to the energy released by splitting atoms, sometimes used for weapons
- deadline
- a time or date by which something must be done
- separately
- apart from something else, in a different way or place
- manage
- to control or organize something
- shipping
- the transport of goods by ship
Level 3 — Intermediate
President Trump said Monday that negotiations with Iran would resume that afternoon, declining to set a deadline for an agreement after having called off a newly planned strike over the weekend.
In a social media post, Trump expressed confidence that a deal had already been largely negotiated to secure the 'Immediate, Complete, and Total' reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and that an agreement addressing Iran's nuclear program would follow.
The announcement builds on Trump's decision on August 1 to cancel an imminent attack, a reversal he attributed to rapid progress in back channel discussions aimed at de-escalating months of confrontation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said separately that negotiations between Tehran and Oman over a new arrangement to manage shipping through the strait, seen as critical to preventing further escalation, were nearing their final stages.
- decline
- to politely refuse to do something
- largely
- for the most part; mostly
- reversal
- a change to the opposite direction or decision
- attribute
- to say that something is caused by a particular thing
- back channel
- an informal or secret way of communicating
- de-escalate
- to reduce the intensity of a conflict
- confrontation
- a situation of conflict or opposition between sides
- arrangement
- a plan or agreement for how something will be done
Level 4 — Advanced
President Trump declared Monday that negotiations with Iran would resume that afternoon, pointedly declining to impose a deadline on the proceedings even as he framed the resumption as the natural sequel to his weekend decision to abort a newly planned strike.
In a social media post, Trump projected confidence that a deal had been substantially negotiated to secure what he termed the 'Immediate, Complete, and Total' reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, with an accompanying settlement on Iran's nuclear program expected to materialize in short order.
The announcement extends a pattern established on August 1, when Trump canceled an imminent attack, a reversal he ascribed to momentum generated through undisclosed back channel exchanges intended to defuse months of escalating confrontation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi indicated independently that Tehran's negotiations with Oman over a revised framework for managing strait traffic, widely regarded as pivotal to forestalling renewed hostilities, had entered their concluding phase.
- abort
- to stop an action or plan before it is completed
- sequel
- something that follows and continues from an earlier event
- materialize
- to become real or actually happen
- ascribe
- to attribute something to a particular cause
- undisclosed
- not made known or revealed publicly
- defuse
- to make a dangerous or tense situation calmer
- pivotal
- of crucial importance in relation to the development of something
- forestall
- to prevent something by acting first
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