President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had “very good talks” with Iran over the past 24 hours and said it was “very possible that we will make a deal,” even as Tehran pushed back against reports that an agreement was close. He also said Iran should suspend its nuclear programme and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning that the United States could return to bombing Iran if negotiations fall apart.
Trump said in an interview with PBS that he was optimistic about reaching an agreement before his scheduled trip to China next week. Later on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would speak with Trump about the negotiations.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said reports suggesting a deal was close were “exaggerated” and said Tehran had not yet issued a formal response to the latest US proposal. He said Iran was still exchanging diplomatic messages through mediator Pakistan. A Pakistani source and another source briefed on the mediation told that negotiators were close to a one-page memorandum that would formally end the conflict.
That memorandum, according to the sources, would open the way for talks on unblocking shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting US sanctions on Iran and placing new curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme. Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency said the US proposal included some unacceptable provisions, citing an unnamed source, while lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei called the text “more of an American wish list than a reality.”
The talks come as Tehran reviews a US peace proposal after the war that began on February 28, and both sides are still locked over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and control of the Strait of Hormuz. Before the conflict, the waterway carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply. US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Trump preferred a diplomatic solution and described the president as “clear-eyed,” but added that Washington would not allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon. He also said Trump had been consistent from the start, saying the Iranian regime cannot be allowed to get one. For now, the shape of any deal still depends on whether the latest messages through Pakistan turn into a formal reply from Tehran, and whether Trump keeps the pressure on or chooses the exit ramp he says is still open.
