Trump says US will not 'rush into a deal' with Iran
Iran said on Saturday that the two sides were nearing "a memorandum of understanding".
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WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday (May 24) that he had told US negotiators "not to rush into a deal" with Iran, amid anticipation that an agreement to end the war in the Middle East was close.
"The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
"The blockade will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed."
The US has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports since Apr 13 after Tehran virtually halted traffic through the economically vital Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began Feb 28.
Trump's comments came as bipartisan opposition mounted in Washington overnight, with several current and former lawmakers and officials criticising aspects of the deal that began to leak.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the president's decision to strike Iran was the “most consequential” of his second term and that he should not let up now.
“If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime — still run by Islamists who chant ‘death to America’ — now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake,” Cruz wrote Saturday on the social media platform X. It was in reaction to Trump's update after he had spoken with the leaders of Israel and other US allies in the region.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who is also close to Trump, panned any deal that would leave Iran perceived as being a dominant force in the region and in which it would retain its ability to destroy oil infrastructure throughout the Gulf.
Polls show the war, which began when the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, is unpopular with the American public and has cost US taxpayers at least $29 billion, as of this month.
While the White House has not released aspects of the deal, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Saturday on state television that the two sides were nearing "a memorandum of understanding, a kind of framework agreement composed of 14 clauses", in "a trend toward rapprochement".
Later that day, Trump wrote on Truth Social that an agreement was "largely negotiated" but "subject to finalisation".
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