Washington: President Donald Trump ended a high-level Situation Room meeting on Friday without announcing whether the United States will move ahead with a proposed Iran deal, despite earlier saying he was ready to make a “final determination.”
The tentative framework reportedly aims to extend the fragile ceasefire with Iran for 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, remove sea mines and begin talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme. But by the end of the meeting, there was still no clear public decision from the White House.
Trump had said any agreement must ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon and that its highly enriched uranium is destroyed. A White House official also said Trump would only approve a deal that meets America’s “red lines.”
Iran, meanwhile, pushed back hard. Its foreign ministry said there were “no negotiations” on the nuclear issue at this stage, while Iranian state-linked reporting described parts of Trump’s claims as “a mixture of truth and lies.”
One major sticking point is Iran’s uranium stockpile, estimated at about 440 kilograms enriched to 60%. Kazakhstan has reportedly offered to store the material if a broader agreement is reached, according to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi.
The stakes are not just diplomatic. The Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil route, has been disrupted for months, raising fears over fuel prices and global supply. Leaders of the IMF, World Bank and International Energy Agency warned that prolonged disruption could create serious risks for energy security this summer.
For now, the message is messy: Washington says a deal may be close, Tehran says not so fast. And Trump, after promising a final call, has left the world waiting.
