Trump holds firm on conditions as Iran deal remains unresolved
Trump has not approved a proposed Iran deal, with the White House saying he will only accept terms that meet his red lines. Tehran says no final agreement has been reached and disputes key elements of Trump’s account.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will agree to a deal with Iran only if it meets all of his conditions, a White House official said, as uncertainty persisted over negotiations aimed at ending the war.
The White House had suggested Trump was nearing a decision on a possible agreement, but Tehran said there was still no final settlement. An Iranian state media report also challenged several parts of Trump’s description of the proposed arrangement, with sources calling his remarks a mixture of truth and lies.
US sources said the deal was awaiting Trump’s approval after weeks of uneven negotiations over a conflict that has spread across the Middle East and rattled the global economy. Trump attended a two-hour meeting in the White House Situation Room on Friday but did not make a final decision.
A White House official told AFP afterward:
President Trump will only make a deal that is good for America and satisfies his red lines.
The same official added:
Iran rejects key parts of Trump’s account
In a social media post, Trump repeated his longstanding demands that Iran permanently forgo nuclear weapons development and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping without tolls. He also said Tehran would remove mines from the waterway, while the United States would lift its parallel blockade of Iranian ports. Trump further said both sides would coordinate on removing and destroying Iran’s enriched uranium and that no money would be exchanged until further notice.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei rejected the language used by Washington, telling state media that the Islamic republic had said goodbye to the language of must 47 years ago. He said exchanges of messages were continuing, but no final agreement had yet been reached.
Baqaei also told state television there were currently no negotiations taking place on Iran’s nuclear programme, while Iran’s top diplomat suggested the US approach was delaying an agreement.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a phone call with the Emir of Qatar, said Iran was prepared to reach a dignified framework to end the war, according to the state news agency IRNA.
Fars news agency, citing sources, said Tehran was seeking the immediate release of $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets before moving to the next phase of talks. The same sources said no such clause appears in the text of the agreement regarding a toll-free reopening of Hormuz, and described Trump’s comment on destroying Iran’s nuclear material as fundamentally baseless.
Shipping, markets and regional fighting
Energy markets have swung sharply this week as investors assessed the prospects for an agreement that could restore normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Washington and Tehran have accused each other of breaching the truce in and around the strait as recently as this week, with US strikes on the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas followed by retaliatory Iranian fire.
Iranian state television said 24 ships had passed through the strait in the previous 24 hours in coordination with the Revolutionary Guards and the foreign ministry. It also warned that ships from hostile countries face a severe response from Iran’s military.
Ali, a 49-year-old resident of Tonekabon north of Tehran, said the public messaging from both sides left the situation unclear.
"Both sides are speaking in a way that keeps their supporters satisfied. It's not clear who is telling the truth,"he said.
On the Lebanon front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Israeli forces had advanced further into Lebanon. Hezbollah said it had carried out a series of drone strikes on military targets in northern Israel, including troop concentrations and barracks, and also said it was attacking Israeli troops attempting to move forward near the medieval Beaufort fortress close to Nabatieh.
The developments came as Israeli and Lebanese military delegations held security talks in Washington. Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s second-in-command, described those talks as productive.
Israel continued heavy bombardment in southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese health ministry said 11 people were killed, including a rescuer. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was supposed to take effect on April 17, but it has never been observed. Each side accuses the other of violating it and says its own attacks are in response to breaches by the other.
Lebanon was drawn into the war in early March when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel over the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli attacks, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion.
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