image source, Getty Images
US President Donald Trump met with top allies on Friday to make a “final decision” on an outline to extend the ceasefire with Iran, but it ended without a decision on what the next step would be.
Donald Trump said Iran must agree never to develop nuclear weapons or bombs, reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ‘free shipping’ and “destroy” all mines in the waterway.
The meeting was held in the White House’s Situation Room, which is usually used to deal with major crises.
Iran has previously said it is not discussing its nuclear program, which it maintains is purely for civilian purposes.
The two countries agreed on Thursday to outline the deal (known as a memorandum of understanding) pending approval by Trump and Iran’s leadership, according to US officials.
image source, US Navy via Getty Images
According to reports, the deal would extend the ceasefire for 60 days and begin negotiations on the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
A White House official told CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner, “President Trump will only agree to a deal that is good for the United States and meets his conditions. Iran can never have nuclear weapons.”
Since the cease-fire took effect on April 8, Trump has repeatedly signaled that the US and Iran are close to a deal and that talks are progressing, but so far there have been no tangible results.
In a social media post earlier Friday, Trump said he was ready to lift the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz so that ships stuck in the waterway could “begin the process of returning home”.
He also emphasized that Iran must allow the US to remove and destroy its enriched uranium.
“No money will be transacted until further orders,” he said.
“Some other matters, of much less importance, have been agreed upon.”
A White House official later confirmed to the BBC that the Situation Room meeting had ended. However, he did not give any further details.
image source, Getty Images
Iran’s Fars news agency, citing sources, said Trump’s recent comments were “a mixture of truth and lies.”
The agency said there was no provision for destroying nuclear material in the MoU.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Ismail Baghai told state television that their main goal was “to stop fighting, there is no discussion on the nuclear issue”.
The United States has long demanded that Iran stop producing high-enriched uranium and destroy its existing stockpiles, which it believes could be used to build nuclear weapons.
Iran says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and denies claims it is seeking nuclear weapons.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has highlighted the US possibility of relaunching the attack on Iran.
“The military stockpile that we have there and around the world is perfectly suited for this, because we maintain a very precise and large balance of munitions,” he said while addressing a security conference in Singapore.
He added: “So we are in a very good position.”
image source, Reuters
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched an attack against Iran.
In response, Iran launched attacks on Israel and US-backed countries in the Gulf and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, sending global oil prices soaring.
In normal times about 20 percent of the world’s energy supply is transported through this system.
On Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance said negotiators were working on “several linguistic points”, including “the question of uranium enrichment”.
“We’re not there yet, but we’re very close and we’re continuing to work on it,” he said.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in a post earlier on Friday that they had “no assurances or trust in words”, instead only trusting in effective action.
“No action will be taken until the other side takes action,” he said.
“The winner of any treaty is the side that is better prepared for war the day after the treaty.”
Both sides have accused each other of ceasefire violations in recent days.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday it had struck a US air base in Kuwait, which was the “source” of an earlier attack on the strategic Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, located near the Strait of Hormuz.
The US Central Command in Kuwait called the attack a “serious ceasefire violation”.
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