Trump yet to seal Iran deal
US President Donald Trump held a White House Situation Room meeting with his advisers, but has not yet made a decision on whether to move forward with a deal to extend the Iran ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said the agreement has not been finalised.
Ahead of the meeting, Trump said he was looking to make a “final determination”. A senior administration official later said the roughly two-hour meeting with national security aides had concluded without a decision.
The official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Trump would only sign a deal that “satisfies his redlines” and curbs Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Trump confirmed the high-level talks the day after The Associated Press and other news outlets reported that US and Iranian negotiators had come to terms on a tentative agreement. The deal would extend the fragile ceasefire by 60 days as new talks are held on Iran’s disputed nuclear programme.
Meanwhile, the US military has stopped another merchant vessel trying to break through the American blockade of Iranian ports, a US official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Trump wrote on social media that “Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb”. He said the strait must be reopened for international navigation and all sea mines destroyed.
Iran’s main negotiator said on Friday that it has “no trust in guarantees or words”, only actions, underscoring lingering distrust after the US and Israel have twice attacked Iran over the past year while it was engaged in nuclear negotiations.
“No step will be taken before the other side acts,” Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on X. “We do not gain concessions through talks, but through missiles.”
Later, but before Trump’s meeting concluded, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told a state broadcaster that the agreement “has not been finalised yet”. On Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance suggested negotiators were trying to strike general terms on Iran’s nuclear programme, with the specifics to be hammered out in the ensuing talks.
Baghaei, however, said on Friday that Iranian officials were “focussed on the end of war and are not discussing the details of the nuclear plan at this point”.
Iran also wants any deal to include a truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, where fighting has intensified despite a nominal ceasefire. And the Islamic Republic has been seeking the release of billions of dollars in frozen funds.
