Trump says peace deal with Iran ‘largely negotiated’ with strait of Hormuz to open | US-Israel war on Iran
Donald Trump announced Saturday that a peace deal with Iran “has been largely negotiated,” after calls with a Pakistani mediator, Gulf allies and Israel, potentially paving the way for an end to the war launched by the United States and Israel in February.
Trump wrote on his social media platform that “the final aspects and details” of a “memorandum of understanding” are still under discussion and “will be announced shortly,” but said the Strait of Hormuz would be open as part of the deal.
“An agreement has been extensively negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the various other countries,” Trump said.
The announcement comes after a Pakistani source told Reuters that Iran and Pakistan had submitted a revised proposal to the United States aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
A regional official with direct knowledge of Pakistan’s mediation efforts told The Associated Press on Saturday that the potential deal would include a formal declaration of the end of the war, with two months of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, the opening of Iran’s crucial shipping lane and an end to the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.
Before the announcement, there had been indications that indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran had progressed in recent days. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said during a visit to India that “news” could come “later today”, even as Trump continues to threaten to strike Iran.
In his message, Trump said he had telephone conversations with many Middle East leaders, including those of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, as well as Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “Incidentally, I had a call with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, which also went very well,” Trump said.
Details of the exact negotiations remain rare. Trump said Saturday he had met with U.S. negotiators, including special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner, as well as JD Vance, to discuss the latest round of proposals.
The lead-up to the announcement remained tense, with Trump continuing to threaten a strike. Trump had told CBS and Axios that he would only sign a deal “where we get everything we want,” adding that if a deal was not reached, the United States would return to striking Iran.
Drop Site News reported Friday evening that the latest proposal submitted to mediators by Iran included the temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. However, Iran also demanded that the United States end the blockade of Iranian ports, release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, and develop a plan to compensate Iran for damages suffered during the war. According to Drop Site’s source, the Iranian proposal included a definitive end to the war before negotiating an agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program. It is unclear how many of these points were included in the memorandum that Trump referred to in his message.
Iran’s top negotiator said earlier in the day there would be no compromise on its national rights during a meeting with Pakistan’s army chief in Tehran.
“Our intention was first to draft a memorandum of understanding, a sort of framework agreement made up of 14 clauses,” he told state television.
