US President Donald Trump convened a roughly two-hour meeting in the White House Situation Room, but no final decision was made at the end of the discussions regarding a new deal with Iran, a senior US administration official said.
The official noted that the administration believes the sides are close to signing a memorandum of understanding, but several issues remain in dispute, foremost among them the release of frozen Iranian funds. The development in Washington came hours after Trump issued an unusual statement revealing details about the emerging contacts, which are expected to include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and entry into broader negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
Hours after the president's statement, The New York Times reported that the meeting ended without a decision. The administration believes it is close to an agreement, but issues such as the unfreezing of Iranian funds are still being discussed.
However, just hours after the White House statement, a fierce battle of narratives is unfolding. Sources who spoke to Al Jazeera rejected the US president's new claims regarding a possible agreement with Iran, describing his remarks as "a mixture of truth and lies" and as an attempt to present a fake victory. According to the Al Jazeera report, the sources said that it is already clear to almost everyone that these claims have no validity.
In his original statement, the US president said: "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. All water mines (bombs), if any, will be terminated."
Battle of narratives
Trump said in the statement: "We have removed, through detonation, numerous such mines with our great underwater mine sweepers. Iran will complete the immediate removal and/or detonation of any mines that are left, which will not be many!" The US president added: "Ships caught in the Strait due to our amazing and unprecedented Naval Blockade, which will now be lifted, may start the process of "heading home!" Say HELLO to your wives, husbands, parents, and families from me, your favorite President!"
By contrast, according to a report by Al Jazeera, the text of the agreement, formulated as a "commitment for commitment" arrangement, is in the final stages of approval in Iran, and no final decision has yet been made. According to the Al Jazeera report, Trump, who sees himself as unable to withdraw from the agreement, raised demands that contradict the clauses of the draft agreement, while at the same time announcing that he was ending the blockade immediately.
The Al Jazeera report further claimed that Trump's announcement on Truth Social about lifting the naval blockade was, in effect, "the first and most basic condition set by the Iranian side," which had insisted on an official public announcement first. The sources said Trump chose to frame the lifting of the blockade as a secondary clause, while Tehran views it as a central confidence-building step before moving into the more sensitive files.
What will happen to the "nuclear dust"?
According to the Al Jazeera report, there has so far been no direct discussion of the nuclear file itself, and the process is designed to move gradually through a memorandum of understanding, in which each stage will be met with a reciprocal step. At the same time, according to a report by the Fars news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian sources are pointing to what they describe as Trump's distortion of the agreement's main axes, chief among them the Strait of Hormuz issue.
Trump claimed in his letter that Iran was committed to opening the Strait of Hormuz without charging fees, while according to Fars, the draft agreement contains no such clause. Iran stressed that after the blockade is lifted, it would open the strait only according to internal arrangements it had set in advance, which may include monitoring, inspections of vessels and the provision of security services, and that these infrastructures are already in the midst of preparation in Tehran. In addition, while Trump claimed that Iran was dismantling or destroying its nuclear material, knowledgeable sources stressed to Al Jazeera that not only does no such provision appear in the memorandum of understanding, but the claim itself is completely baseless.
Later in his statement, the US president referred to "the enriched material, sometimes referred to as "Nuclear Dust," which is buried deep underground with virtually collapsed mountains, caused by our powerful B2 Bomber attack 11 months ago, sitting on top of it, will be unearthed by the United States in close coordination and conjunction with the Islamic Republic of Iran, plus the International Atomic Energy Agency, and DESTROYED."
The economic issues
At the end of his written statement, Trump addressed the issue of financing, writing: "No money will be exchanged, until further notice. Other items, of far less importance, have been agreed to. I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" In affect, this statement makes clear that the US is refusing, at this stage, to meet Tehran's preliminary economic demands.
By contrast, reports on Al Jazeera seek to highlight Iran's financial demands, claiming that sources close to the negotiations point to a condition requiring the immediate payment of $12 billion from the Islamic republic's frozen assets. According to this line, as expressed by Al Jazeera, Tehran is seeking to condition continued nuclear talks and the lifting of sanctions on receipt of the billions, and is even linking the economic move to efforts to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon in accordance with Hezbollah's position.
At the same time, according to a report by Fars, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian officials are raising demands and threatening "immediate countermeasures" in the event of what they define as a breach of commitment by the US administration.
In parallel with the developments in the contacts, the Islamic Republic is preparing for the possibility of holding the funeral of Ali Khamenei, the eliminated Supreme Leader of Iran. The head of the Islamic Propagation Coordination Council in Tehran Province announced that a special committee had been established to prepare for a mass funeral procession, and that various bodies were already on alert and carrying out the required preparations. According to him, the date of the ceremony has not yet been finalized and will be published later by the authorized officials.
