Trump says Iran deal will be signed on Sunday
A peace deal between the US and Iran will be signed on Sunday, US President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Tehran earlier denied that an agreement can be reached by Sunday, though it did not rule out a deal “in the coming days.”
The two nations have been engaged in talks mediated by Pakistan for more than two months following a truce reached in early April. The negotiations came after the US and Israel launched a military operation against Iran in late February.
Iran responded with strikes against Gulf states that host US bases and by closing the Strait of Hormuz, which normally handles around a quarter of global seaborne oil and LNG trade.
“The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL,” Trump wrote on Saturday.
He added that the agreement will prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons “either through purchase, development, or any other form of procurement.” Tehran has denied that it seeks nuclear weapons, insisting that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.
Trump said, “no money will exchange hands,” implying that the US will not unfreeze Iranian assets. He also stated that “at the appropriate time” the US will take possession of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium in order to “downblend and destroy it, whether in Iran, or the United States.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that an agreement is “likely expected in the next 24 hours.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said earlier on Saturday that it “will not happen tomorrow.”
“The possibility that it could take place in the coming days cannot be ruled out,” Baghaei said, adding that a memorandum of understanding, which is currently being drafted, will focus solely on ending the conflict between the US and Iran, while “the nuclear issue will not be addressed.”
Baghaei previously said the memorandum will give the two sides 60 days to negotiate the future of Iran’s nuclear program, and that the agreement will include an end to Israeli operations in Lebanon.
He also accused Israel of seeking to derail the deal. “We are not dealing with parties that are fully committed to their obligations. They take advantage of every opportunity to break their promises.”
