US President Donald Trump said Friday that he was making his decision on a potential deal with Iran, though Tehran insisted there was still “no final agreement” on ending the Middle East war.
US sources had told AFP the deal was just waiting on Trump’s sign-off following weeks of halting negotiations to end a conflict that has engulfed the Middle East and shaken the global economy.
Trump attended a two-hour meeting in the White House Situation Room on Friday, but did not reach a decision on any new deal with Iran, The New York Times reported.
Trump announced the meeting in a lengthy social media post, reiterating long-held demands that Iran agree never to have nuclear weapons and must open the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, however, told state media that the Islamic republic “said goodbye to the language of ‘must’ 47 years ago”.
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“Regarding the understanding…exchanges of messages are continuing, but no final agreement has been reached yet,” he added.
In his post, Trump said Tehran would remove mines in the Strait of Hormuz and end its blockade of the waterway with “no tolls,” while the US would lift its parallel blockade of Iranian ports.
The two countries would coordinate on removing and destroying Iran’s enriched uranium, he said, adding that “no money will be exchanged, until further notice.”
Fars, however, cited Iranian sources as saying that Tehran was demanding “the immediate release of $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets” and that “until this payment is made, Iran will not move to the next phase of negotiations.”
As for the toll-free reopening of Hormuz, the sources said, “no such clause appears in the text of the agreement,” while the comment on destroying Iran’s nuclear material “is fundamentally baseless.”
Baqaei also told state TV that there were currently “no negotiations” taking place on Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump’s post came as Iran’s top diplomat suggested the US was holding up a deal with its approach to the negotiations.
In a call with his Omani counterpart, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US must drop “excessive demands and shifting and contradictory positions,” his ministry said.
Earlier Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led his country’s delegation at talks with the US in Pakistan last month, said on X that Tehran placed “no trust in guarantees or words; only actions matter.
Sources have previously told Iranian media that any agreement unilaterally announced by Trump would not be recognized.