Getty ImagesUS President Donald Trump has said he is holding a meeting to make a “final determination” about an agreement to extend a ceasefire with Iran.
He said Iran “must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb”, that the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened for “unrestricted shipping traffic, in both directions” and that any mines in the waterway “must be destroyed”.
“I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination,” he said on Truth Social. Iran has not yet commented.
It comes after US officials told the BBC the two countries had agreed a framework of a deal – known as a memorandum of understanding – pending the approval of Trump and Iran’s leadership.
In his post, Trump said he was prepared to lift the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and ships caught in the waterway “may start the process of “heading home!”
He also insisted Iran allows the US to remove and destroy its enriched uranium.
“No money will be exchanged, until further notice,” he said. “Other items, of far less importance, have been agreed to.”
The US has long demanded that Iran stop producing highly enriched uranium and dispose of its existing stockpile, which in theory could be used to create nuclear weapons.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and denies it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran’s Fars news agency cited informed sources as saying that Trump’s latest comments were a “mixture of truth and lies”.
There was no provision to destroy nuclear materials in the sides’ memorandum of understanding, the agency reported.
On Thursday, US Vice-President JD Vance said negotiators were “going back and forth on a couple of language points”, which include the “question of enrichment”.
“We’re not there yet, but we’re very close and we’re going to keep on working at it,” he said.
Since the initial ceasefire between the US and Iran came into effect on 8 April, Trump has suggested – repeatedly – that the two sides are close to a deal and that negotiations are progressing, but so far there have been no substantive results.
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said earlier on Friday that it has “no trust in guarantees or words”, only actions.
“No action will be taken before the other side acts,” he said in a social media post. “The winner of any agreement is the one who is better prepared for war the day after.”
