President Trump has exited a White House Situation Room meeting, where he was expected to make a final decision on the potential peace deal with Iran, reportedly without reaching an agreement.
As reported by the New York Times, after the two-hour meeting, the President had not made a final decision, a senior administration official said.
According to the report, “The administration believes it is close to an agreement but there are still certain matters being debated including the unfreezing of funds for the Iranians, the official said.”
CBS reported earlier that “no negotiations” on Iran’s nuclear program were underway, according to Iran’s foreign ministry.
“At this stage, we are focused on ending the war, and there are no negotiations on the nuclear issue,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told Iranian state media.
This comes after Trump announced a “largely negotiated” framework for a 60-day “memorandum of understanding” (MOU) on Saturday. Included in the plan is a 60-day ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, concessions from Iran on nuclear enrichment, and an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.
Early reports on the deal suggested that it would require Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for unrestricted passage and abandon its nuclear enrichment program.
Trump further announced on Monday that he seeks to mandate that all Middle East mediators and Iran sign on to the Abraham Accords and secure lasting peace as a condition of a deal.
The deal now awaits Trump’s approval, according to reports, after Iran agreed to extend the ceasefire and continue negotiations on its nuclear program. Trump’s nuclear demands would reportedly require further negotiations after signing the MOU.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Trump announced he was meeting in the Situation Room with his team “to make a final determination” on the potential deal with Iran.
In a statement, Trump laid out his demands relating to nuclear enrichment and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. “Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb. The Hormuz Strait must be immediately open, no tolls, for unrestricted shipping traffic, in both directions,” he said, calling on Iran to destroy all water mines in the Strait and enriched nuclear material and signaling that the US’s naval blockade would be lifted.
“No money will be exchanged, until further notice. Other items, of far less importance, have been agreed to,” he said.
The US and Iran also exchanged missiles earlier this week, with the US launching a "self-defense" strike in southern Iran on Monday and Tehran targeting an American military base in Kuwait with drones and missiles on Thursday.
This is a developing story.
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