Sri Lanka, April 27 -- Iran has offered to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the United States lifting its blockade on the country and an end to the war, while proposing that discussions on the larger question of its nuclear programme would come in a later phase, two regional officials said on Monday (Apr 27).

US President Donald Trump seems unlikely to accept the offer, which was passed to the Americans by Pakistan and would leave unresolved the disagreements that led the US and Israel to go to war on Feb 28.

With a fragile ceasefire in place, the US and Iran are locked in a standoff over the strait, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil and gas passes in peacetime.

The US blockade is designed to prev...