Washington, United States. United States President Donald Trump said he would decide on Friday on a potential deal with Iran to extend their ceasefire, with terms including reopening the Strait of Hormuz and dismantling Tehran’s capacity to make a nuclear weapon.
Decision pending
Trump said he would be “meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination,” referring to the White House’s crisis-monitoring centre. Sources had said a deal was being considered to extend a truce in place since early April for another 60 days to allow oil and gas shipments to resume through the waterway while negotiators address Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump’s conditions
“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,” Trump said. He added that nuclear material would be “unearthed” by the US.
Iranian response
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that a political understanding over the war had been reached but not yet finalised. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, citing sources, said there was a “mixture of truth and falsehood” in Trump’s comments and called them an “attempt to portray a fabricated victory.”
According to Fars, the strait would be reopened under Tehran’s arrangements after the US lifts its blockade on Iranian ships. The agency said there was no provision to destroy nuclear materials in the sides’ Memorandum of Understanding, but that there was agreement to release $12 billion of Iran’s frozen assets.
Regional impact
The war launched by the US and Israel on February 28 has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and pushed up energy prices after Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz caused global economic pain.
Truth Social post
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said mines would be removed from the strait and ships trapped there may start to go home. He also said no money would be exchanged “until further notice,” a possible reference to Iran’s demands for toll payments in the strait, war damage reparations or the release of Iranian funds frozen abroad.