A man waves an Iranian flag under a billboard with a graphic showing the Strait of Hormuz and sewn lips of U.S. President Donald Trump in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran. AP
US President Donald Trump said Saturday a deal with Iran had been "largely negotiated," with the proposal including opening the crucial Strait of Hormuz, though the agreement was "subject to finalization."
In response, Iranian state media dismissed Trump’s assertion that a draft agreement had been “largely negotiated,” calling the description “incomplete and inconsistent with reality.”
“Based on the latest exchanged draft text, if a potential agreement is reached, the Strait of Hormuz will still remain under Iran’s management,” Fars news agency said.
“Although Iran has agreed to allow the number of passing ships to return to pre-war levels, this in no way means a return to ‘free passage’ under pre-war conditions,” it added.
The Tasnim news agency reported that Iran has not agreed to any new measures related to its nuclear program as part of ongoing talks aimed at ending the war.
“Iran has not accepted any actions in the nuclear domain at the current juncture,” Tasnim reported via X on Sunday.
“The matter of nuclear negotiations has been deferred until after the potential end of the war and the implementation of certain measures by the United States during this period,” the Iranian outlet added.
According to Tasnim, under the terms of a potential deal still being negotiated through mediators, “a 30-day period has been envisioned for implementing measures related to the maritime blockade and the Strait of Hormuz, and simultaneously, a 60-day period for negotiations on the nuclear issue will be defined.”
Moreover, a senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday that Tehran has not agreed to hand over its highly enriched uranium stockpile.
The source said Iran's nuclear issue was not part of the preliminary agreement with the United States.
"The nuclear issue will be addressed in negotiations for a final agreement and are therefore not part of the current deal. There has been no agreement over Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile to be shipped out of the country," said the source.
This came after Axios reported that a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) includes Iranian commitments never to pursue nuclear weapons, as well as negotiations over suspending uranium enrichment and removing stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.
An informed source told Tasnim that disagreements between Iran and the US over one or two clauses of a possible memorandum of understanding are still ongoing, adding that due to US obstruction, the settlement of differences has not yet been finalized.
The source said Iran insists on securing the rights of its people, and that Pakistani mediators have been informed that if US obstruction continues, no agreement will be reached.
In a separate report on Telegram, Tasnim re-emphasized that the Strait of Hormuz “will not return to its pre-war status.”
“Iran continues to emphasize the exercise of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz through various means, the details of which will be announced later,” it said.
“Additionally, the maritime blockade must be completely lifted within 30 days according to the understanding. If the naval blockade is not lifted, no changes will be made in the Strait of Hormuz.”
The outlet also reported that part of Iran’s frozen assets abroad must be released in the first stage of any agreement.
“Based on Iran’s previous bad experiences with the other side’s breaches of commitments regarding the release of assets, Iran has emphasized that any initial understanding is conditional upon the release of at least part of these assets in a way that the country can access them.”
The informed source told Tasnim that Iran has made clear that no agreement will be reached without the release of a specified portion of frozen assets in the very first step, along with a clear mechanism ensuring the continued release of all funds.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei described the draft proposal as a “framework agreement” that would require a further “30 to 60 days” of negotiations before a final deal could be reached.
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