Washington (United States) (AFP) – US President Donald Trump said he was making his final decision on a potential deal with Iran on Friday, as Tehran insisted any agreement on ending the Middle East war hinged on Washington dropping its “excessive demands.” Iran’s top negotiator had said earlier Tehran would only trust Washington’s actions, not its words, after US Vice President JD Vance said progress had been made on a deal to extend a ceasefire and provide a framework for peace talks.
US sources told AFP the deal was just waiting on Trump’s sign-off following weeks of halting negotiations to end a conflict that had engulfed the Middle East and shaken the global economy. “I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination,” Trump said in a lengthy social media post, reiterating long-held demands that Iran agree never to have nuclear weapons and open the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lanes. He said Tehran would remove mines in the strait, the US would lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and the two countries would coordinate on removing and destroying Iran’s enriched uranium, though he did not clarify whether the points had already been agreed or were part of the deal under consideration.
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 “indicated that arriving at a final agreement depended on ending the American party’s attitude based on excessive demands and shifting and contradictory positions,” his ministry said in a statement. Earlier Iran’s parliament speaker, who led its delegation at peace talks with the US in Pakistan last month, said Tehran had gained leverage not “through talks, but through missiles,” and was sceptical of US promises. “We place no trust in guarantees or words; only actions matter. No step will be taken before the other side acts first,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X.
Hopes of an agreement had risen on Thursday after US officials were positive about the direction of diplomacy, with Vance telling reporters “a lot of progress” had been made. Optimism around a possible US-Iran deal boosted Asian stock markets on Friday, while oil prices receded slightly. Energy markets have whipsawed this week as investors parse the chances of an agreement that could potentially resume normal shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has blockaded since the start of the war. But Iran has not confirmed any commitments to a deal, and sources have told Iranian media that any agreement unilaterally announced by Trump would not be recognised. On Friday, Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing a source, said the text had not yet been finalised and that the wording of the potential memorandum of understanding had “undergone some changes in recent days.”
Qatar’s role in talks has grown, and its state news agency said late Thursday Trump had called its ruler to discuss the “latest updates” on efforts to end the war. Doha hosted Iranian officials this week as regional nations push for a definitive resolution to the war, despite a fragile ceasefire largely holding since April 8. Washington and Tehran have accused each other of violating the truce as recently as this week, with US strikes on the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas countered by retaliatory Iranian fire. Iranian forces did not specify their target, but Kuwait, which hosts US troops, said its air defences responded to incoming Iranian missiles and drones. Iran had also fired at four ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz without authorisation, state broadcaster IRIB reported Thursday. Iran has blockaded the waterway since the war began. Iranian state TV said on Friday that 24 ships had transited the strait in the past 24 hours, in coordination with the Revolutionary Guards and the foreign ministry. But it warned that “ships from hostile countries face a severe response” from Iran’s military.
On the war’s Lebanon front, the country’s culture minister told AFP on Friday Israel had struck a medieval castle overlooking the southern city of Nabatieh, warning that other heritage sites were in “serious danger.” Israeli forces used the castle, also known as Qalaat al-Chakif, as a base during their previous two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000. A ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah was supposed to have taken effect on April 17, but has never been observed. Both sides accuse each other of violating it and justify their attacks by the other camp’s alleged breaches. Lebanon was drawn into the war in early March when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel over the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli attacks, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion.
© 2024 AFP
