Iran said it had yet to make a final decision on an agreement with the United States to end the war, despite U.S. President Donald Trump saying it had been approived and could be signed in the next few days. File photo by Behnam Tofighi/UPI | License Photo
Iran said it had yet to make a final decision on an agreement with the United States to end the war, despite U.S. President Donald Trump saying it was a done deal that could be signed as early as this weekend.
Speaking on Thursday night, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran was reviewing a proposal brokered by Qatar and Pakistan but dismissed reports agreement had been reached as “speculation,” adding that “nothing has been finalized.”
“So far, Iran has not reached a final conclusion on the agreement. Whenever we reach a conclusion that the text of the [memorandum of] understanding is in the interest of the Iranian nation, we will announce it.
“The status of negotiations was clear to us from the beginning and a major part of the text had been finalized, but the Americans kept changing their positions,” said Baqaei who stressed Iran would never retreat from or compromise “on what it defines as its red lines.”
Baqaei’s comments came hours after Trump called off planned large-scale strikes against Iran, including Kharg Island, from which 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports are shipped, saying the Iranian leadership, and other regional powers, had approved “final points” of a deal to end the war.
“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump said Thursday afternoon.
Trump later said the deal was “subject to finalization of documents, which should get done, over the next few days” and that there would “probably” be a signing ceremony, with Europe the most likely location.
The status of the Strait of Hormuz was also in contention with an announcement by U.S. Central Command that the key shipping route was not controlled by Iran and was “open for transit” to all vessels not in breach of the U.S. blockade of Iran, contradicted by Baqaei.
“The Strait of Hormuz remains closed due to illegal U.S. actions,” he said.
Trump has stated an agreement to end the fighting was imminent on multiple occasions since a cease-fire, originally for two weeks, came into force on April 28.
The deal being negotiated is a memorandum of understanding extending the cease-fire for 60 days to allow larger negotiations on the main issues, including Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and its nuclear program.
Oil prices reacted strongly to the developments overnight with both Brent crude, the international benchmark, and West Texas Intermediate, falling sharply in the global market. The Brent contract for August delivery was down $3.83 a barrel at $86.54 in mid-morning trade in London on Friday while American crude for July delivery was changing hands at $83.88 a barrel, down $3.83.
