Trump Says Iran Agrees To Guarantees On Nuclear Program; US Reportedly Offers 'Tougher' Peace Proposal
by RFE/RL · Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty · JoinUS President Donald Trump said Iran had provided guarantees that it would not develop nuclear weapons, as he asserted Washington was nearing a "very good deal" to end the three-month-old war with Tehran.
Trump's comments, made in a Fox News interview broadcast on May 30, came amid reports that US officials had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Tehran.
A top adviser to Iran's supreme leader, meanwhile, accused Trump of "betraying diplomacy for the third time" and making what he called "excessive demands" in negotiations.
The back-and-forth highlights the difficulty that the US administration has encountered as it seeks to end a conflict that has roiled global energy markets and rattled global economies -- as well highlighting Iran's stubborn defiance of Washington's demands.
The fate of Iran's nuclear efforts is one of the main obstacles to a peace deal.
Washington, along with its ally Israel, has demanded sweeping restrictions to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Tehran, which has enriched uranium at levels close to weapons-quality, insists that its atomic efforts are for civilian purposes.
US and Iranian negotiators have exchanged several proposals over recent weeks. The New York Times and the website Axios reported on May 30 that Trump had sent back to Tehran a new framework that contained "tougher" terms.
Aside from the question of Iran's nuclear efforts, reopening the critical Strait of Hormuz -- which has been all but closed for weeks now by Iran -- is the other main sticking point.
In the Fox interview, which was conducted on May 28 by his daughter-in-law, Trump said Iran had agreed it would not have atomic weapons.
"The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They've agreed to that, and it was very interesting," he said.
SEE ALSO:
Trump Says US ‘Very Close’ to Iran Deal But Warns Military Option Remains
Trump declared a cease-fire with Iran on April 8, though the two sides have periodically conducted small-scale attacks: Iran on US allies in the Persian Gulf region; Washington on Iranian targets inside the country.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington was prepared to resume attacking Iran if the ongoing negotiations fail to produce an agreement.
Speaking at a defense and security forum in Singapore on May 30, Hegseth said the US was “more than capable” of renewing attacks if necessary and that its stockpiles were “more than suited” for such operations.
Experts have warned that the United States was running low on some key weapons systems, and it would take months to rebuild its supplies.
'Excessive Demands'
Iranian authorities have defied US demands for weeks now, though they appear to have shown some willingness to compromise during backchannel negotiations involving Pakistan.
Mohsen Rezaei, who is a top adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, accused Trump of making "excessive demands" in negotiations.
In an X post on May 30, Rezaei said Trump's stance showed "that he is not inclined toward negotiation and is pursuing other objectives."
SEE ALSO:
Fear Of Iran And Public Backlash Stall Trump's Push For Abraham Accords
Iranian state TV reported that the proposed agreement included a deal to release $12 billion in assets that have been frozen for years by the United States.
The White House called a similar, previous report a "fabrication."
Fate Of The Uranium
Kazakhstan has indicated it is open to hosting Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium if a future agreement is reached between Tehran and Washington, according to the Financial Times.
Kazakhstan has a modest civilian atomic industry, built largely by Russia's state-run nuclear company Rosatom.
Trump Says Iran Agrees To Guarantees On Nuclear Program; US Reportedly Offers 'Tougher' Peace Proposal
Share
Share
Follow us