The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated on Sunday (24) that he instructed his representatives not to hurry to close a deal with Iran, signaling a shift in tone from the previous day’s statements, when he had promised a decision on the conflict by the end of this weekend. The post was published on Truth Social.
“Negotiations are advancing in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush to seek a deal, for time is on our side,” Trump wrote.
The president also confirmed that the American naval blockade of Iran remains active and will only be suspended after the formal completion of an understanding. “The blockade will remain in full force and vigor until an agreement is reached, certified and signed. Both sides must have time and get it right. There can be no mistakes,” he stated.
On Saturday afternoon, Trump had posted that an agreement was “largely negotiated” and that a formal announcement would come “soon”. In the morning of the same day, he had told Axios that he would decide by this Sunday between resuming military strikes or signing an agreement, estimating the odds of each outcome at “50/50”.
In the new publication, Trump again cited the nuclear issue as a non-negotiable condition. “They must understand, however, that they cannot develop nor acquire a weapon or nuclear bomb,” he wrote, adding that the relationship with Tehran is becoming “more professional and productive”.
The publication also comes after Iran challenged Trump’s allegations about the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear stocks. Earlier, according to local news agencies, Mohsen Rezaei, the military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Motjaba Khamenei, defended the “legal right” of the country to manage the Strait of Hormuz to guarantee national security. “Iran’s management of the Strait of Hormuz ends 50 years of insecurity in the Persian Gulf,” he said.
According to Axios, the agreement would provide for an extended 60-day ceasefire, with the Strait of Hormuz opened to traffic without tolls and with the removal of mines laid in the passage. In addition, Iran would commit not to develop nuclear weapons and to suspend uranium enrichment.
In return, the United States would suspend the naval blockade of Iranian ports at the Strait’s entrance, lift sanctions on Iranian oil, and release the country’s currently blocked assets.
