US President Donald Trump sent several leaders in the region, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the text of a draft memorandum with Iran for their comments. The text was sent over the past day and was discussed, among other things, in the Trump-Netanyahu call last night.
It is still unclear whether this is a text that the Iranians have also accepted or the latest American proposal, but it is a step that could indicate movement toward understandings with Iran.
Tehran claims nuclear issue was not mentioned
The Iranians published their own draft today, in which the nuclear issue is not mentioned and which says the US Navy will move away from the region. According to diplomatic sources familiar with the contacts, this is an Iranian document that has not been agreed to by the Americans.
They said this was also reflected in a clarification the United States sent to the Gulf states, according to which no agreement would be signed that would leave Iran in control of the Strait of Hormuz, and that the completely free opening of the strait is a basic condition for progress.
Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also made clear statements both on the nuclear issue and regarding the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the diplomatic sources, although the details of the nuclear issue are supposed to be discussed during the negotiations stage, 30 days after the memorandum is signed, the United States insisted that Iran provide a written commitment to hand over its enriched uranium.
Meanwhile, Iran's state broadcaster IRIB published new details, from what it called an "unofficial draft," according to which the United States undertakes to lift the naval blockade on Iran and withdraw its military forces from its vicinity, in return for an Iranian commitment to allow commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz to return to its prewar level. The White House later responded by saying the report was "completely fabricated."
According to the published details, the Iranian commitment to restore commercial traffic would take effect within a month and would not apply to military vessels. It was also claimed that management of shipping lanes and supervision of vessel traffic would remain in Iranian hands, in coordination with Oman. The report stressed that Iran "did not agree to open the strait unconditionally."
As for the withdrawal of American forces, the report said Washington had given "a commitment to the Islamic Republic of Iran on this matter." However, it is unclear whether the commitment applies only to forces deployed before and during the war, or also to the permanent American bases in the Gulf, as Iran demanded during the war.
It was further reported that after the framework is approved, 60 days of negotiations would begin, without specifying explicitly which issues would be on the agenda, including Iran's nuclear project. "If the negotiations lead to a final agreement within the 60 days," the draft said, "the agreement is expected to be approved in a binding UN Security Council resolution."
At the same time, the Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, claimed that Trump could announce unilaterally in the coming hours the end of the agreement between Iran and the United States, in a move aimed at pressuring Tehran and presenting the agreement to public opinion before all the disputes have been resolved.
However, a member of the Iranian negotiating delegation told Fars that unresolved issues remained, and that no agreement would be reached until all matters important to Iran were settled. He said Iran would officially announce the result only after all those issues were resolved.
Trump: Iran will not receive sanctions relief
Meanwhile, Trump said in an interview with PBS that Iran would not receive sanctions relief, even in return for giving up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
"No, no, not at all. No sanctions relief, no," Trump said. "They're going to give up their uranium, not in return for sanctions relief. No, no, not at all."
Trump added, "We had a choice: do nothing, and then within two years Iran would already have had a nuclear weapon."
He later referred to sanctions on Iran, saying, "We're not talking about lifting sanctions, not about money and not about anything else. We have control over money they claim is theirs. When they behave properly, we'll let them receive their money. Nothing depends on anything else."
Rubio also addressed the talks with Iran and made clear that, from Washington's perspective, "Iran will not have a nuclear weapon." He said the United States preferred to exhaust the diplomatic track and was giving diplomatic efforts "every opportunity to succeed," while American envoys continued working to advance a possible agreement.
Rubio said that "in the coming hours and days" it would become clear whether real progress toward an agreement could be achieved, but stressed that the bottom line for the administration remained clear: Iran and those responsible for it would not obtain a nuclear weapon. He added that President Trump "has other tools" if the diplomatic efforts do not bear fruit.
