US President Donald Trump announced that the US had reached understandings with Iran that would allow a deal to end the war with Iran to be signed as early as this coming weekend. Trump said he had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with other leaders in the region.
"We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, subject to finalization of documents. It should get done in the next few days, most likely in Europe, and this is a big thing," Trump said.
Addressing the Iranian nuclear issue, Trump said, "Most importantly, we have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the whole purpose of what we had to go through to get this. So, it's a very big thing. But we have a signing soon, and the documents are in pretty final shape."
"It should be over, and it should be over pretty quickly. They want it as much as anyone else. And I think a lot of good relations can grow out of this. I just spoke with leaders of many of the countries mentioned in the statement. I just spoke with Bibi. I spoke with the heads of major countries: Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and others," Trump said.
"And we will speak with Turkey. President Erdogan has been great. And this is really a wonderful thing, with a lot of spirit. Pakistan was fantastic. The prime minister and the... I call him the general. He is a general. He is a great, great general. He is so great that he is actually a field marshal, one rank higher. And everyone is very happy. The whole Middle East is very happy. And far beyond the Middle East. The strait will open as soon as we sign this."
Trump also referred to the Strait of Hormuz, saying, "We took out a lot of ships that nobody knew about. Even the fake news didn't know about it. But over the past month, we took out ships, big ships, quietly at night. You didn't know about it. Pretty cool, right? They turned off the lights. We bombed their radar and everything else, so they couldn't see what was hap
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya reported the details of the deal between Iran and the US: extending the ceasefire by 60 days or more; removing mines and opening the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping within 30 days; allowing Iran to sell and export oil while phased sanctions relief is considered; continuing nuclear negotiations during the 60-day period; and a ceasefire on all fronts.
The Prime Minister's Office said: "President Trump spoke this evening with Prime Minister Netanyahu about the emerging memorandum of understanding with Iran on entering negotiations. Although Israel is not a party to the memorandum of understanding, the prime minister expressed his appreciation for President Trump's commitment that the final agreement at the conclusion of the negotiations will include the removal of enriched material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, restrictions on missile production and an end to Iran's support for its terrorist proxies in the region."
