While U.S President Donald Trump told reporters that Iran “approved” a draft agreement for a peace deal, Tehran’s Fars news agency said its leadership had not yet approved a text for any agreement with Washington. However, the outlet reported that there was still a possibility of Iran considering to sign off on the deal.
The latest peace deal aims to open the Strait of Hormuz and lift the U.S blockade, with any decision on Iran’s nuclear programme and the lifting of U.S sanctions potentially requiring further negotiations.
Trump had spoken to reporters in the Oval Office, claiming that the Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had approved Washington’s proposal.
“We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran,” he said “We took them out at night, and the Strait will officially open as soon as we sign, which could be sent very soon, maybe over the weekend in Europe.”
He later posted on his Truth Social platform, “Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.”
Trump also wrote that the final points of the proposal have been “in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved”, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, and Egypt.
He said the U.S forces will continue blocking Hormuz “until this transaction is finalised” and Iran agreed to never have a nuclear weapon.
Iran dismisses Trump’s announcement
Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars, which is associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said, citing an “informed source close to Iran’s negotiation team”, “No text for a preliminary memorandum of understanding with the United States has been approved.”
Iran’s Tasnim agency also refuted Trump’s claims, highlighting the U.S President’s previous declarations in the past which led to no outcome.
“Until Iran announces the matter of a potential understanding, any news from Trump on this subject should be regarded as his previous messages,” it said.
The state media later said Washington had accepted Tehran’s “proposed text” and so, Iran could “reconsider and review the agreement once again”.
Spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmail Baghaei also said a deal had not been finalised.
“Most of the text had already been finalised, but the Americans kept changing their positions,” he said “Iran has demonstrated that it does not compromise on what it has defined as its red lines. Iran has not yet reached a final decision regarding an agreement.”
