Israeli sources claim 'no indication' Mojtaba has okayed MoU

White House: US, Iran negotiators have agreed to MoU, but Trump’s approval still needed

US official says president wants a couple days before deciding; Iran says it also hasn’t given final OK; MoU extends truce by 60 days, opens Hormuz to ‘unrestricted’ traffic, launches talks on nuclear issues

The White House on Thursday confirmed that US and Iran negotiators have reached an agreement on a memorandum of understanding that will extend an ongoing ceasefire by 60 days, during which the sides will hold talks on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program.

However, a statement attributed to US sources that the White House sent to querying reporters clarified that US President Donald Trump still needs to sign off on the MoU, which has been circulating among regional states, including Israel, for several days, according to a source familiar with the matter.

A Channel 12 report — which was confirmed by the White House — quoted a US official as having said that Trump wants to take a couple of days to think about it before deciding whether to approve the MoU.

However, a diplomat from one of the countries involved in the mediating process told The Times of Israel that the Channel 12 report mischaracterized the state of negotiations and that a final okay from Iran was still needed as well.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news outlet cited a source close to Tehran’s negotiating team who also denied that the Islamic Republic had actually given its final approval of the MoU. The source claimed that the text of the agreement was still being finalized and that Iran would publicly announce its approval if and when it comes.

Israel did not issue an official response to Thursday’s developments, but Channel 12 cited senior Israeli sources who also maintained that Jerusalem has seen no indication that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has approved the terms and that therefore “Trump has nothing to approve” at this stage.

Even the Channel 12 report appeared to hedge, first citing a “very senior American source” who said the terms of the MoU were agreed “by all levels” of the Iranian leadership before clarifying that “we will have to see” whether Khamenei has indeed approved it.

It was unclear whether the White House decided to confirm the Axios report as a means to pressure Iran to get on board or whether Tehran had indeed privately given its approval of the MoU but was holding off on a public announcement until Trump gives his own authorization.

Later Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance told reporters that Washington was “not there yet” with Iran but that the parties were close, saying the US was in a position where it could substantially set back Tehran’s nuclear program.

“We’ve made a lot of progress,” Vance said, claiming “it’s very clear” that the Iranians “want a deal. They want to open the Strait of Hormuz, we want them to open the Strait of Hormuz.”

He acknowledged there were also “a couple of issues on the nuclear stuff — the highly enriched stockpile and also the question of enrichment.”

Vance added: “So we’re going back and forth with them. We do think they are negotiating, at least so far, in good faith, and we’re making some progress. Hopefully we’ll continue to make progress and the president can be in a position where he can endorse the agreement but obviously that’s [still to be determined].”

Hormuz reopens, nuclear talks commence

The Axios report, confirmed by the White House, offered details of the MoU that were largely the same as those leaked earlier this week after Trump on Sunday declared that a deal was nearly complete.

In addition to the 60-day extension of the ceasefire — which brought a halt to the US-Israeli war against Iran after 40 days of fighting that began on February 28 — the White House-confirmed Channel 12 report said the MoU will reopen the Strait of Hormuz to unrestricted passage of ships.

Iran began obstructing traffic through the key maritime channel shortly after coming under US and Israeli attack, holding global shipping hostage as a means to pressure adversaries to end the conflict.

Under the reported terms of the deal, Washington will ease its naval blockade on Iranian ports in parallel with Tehran restoring full international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The US will also commit to negotiating broader sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian funds, while temporarily suspending some sanctions during the 60-day period to allow Iran to resume unrestricted oil exports.

Negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program will commence during the ceasefire extension, with the first issues on the agenda to focus on the disposal of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile and future limits on its uranium enrichment.

Iran will also formally commit not to pursue nuclear weapons, according to the report confirmed by the White House.

This is not seen as a major concession for Iran, as it has long insisted that it does not seek to obtain a nuclear weapon. However, the Trump administration and Israel have not accepted this assurance to date, pointing to Tehran’s enrichment of uranium to weapons-grade levels and the construction of its nuclear facilities deep underground.

The ceasefire will also apply to Lebanon, although Israel would be free to counter immediate threats by Hezbollah. This would effectively maintain the status quo, where there is technically a ceasefire in place, but Israel maintains a growing buffer zone in southern Lebanon and exchanges fire with Hezbollah on a daily basis, while largely, but not entirely, avoiding attacks in Beirut, at the request of the US.

The White House-confirmed Channel 12 report set out the key terms of the MoU as follows:

• The ceasefire will be extended for 60 days
• Traversing the Strait of Hormuz will be unimpeded and unlimited, with no tolls and no Iranian interference
• Iran will remove all naval mines it has placed in the strait within 30 days
• The US blockade of Iranian ports will be lifted gradually, according to the renewal of passage for shipping through the strait
• The withdrawal of American forces deployed to the area since the start of the war will be dependent on the reaching of a permanent agreement between the sides, including on the nuclear issue
• Iran will issue a commitment not to seek nuclear weapons, not to try to develop nuclear weapons and not to try to purchase nuclear weapons
• Iran will commit that the first issues to be discussed in the negotiations on a permanent accord, which will begin as soon as the MoU is signed, will be how to dispose of its stockpile of enriched uranium, and how to limit uranium enrichment in Iran
• The US, for its part, will pledge that at the end of the negotiations, it will ease sanctions on Iran, and unfreeze Iranian funds
• During the 60 days of talks, the US will suspend some sanctions to enable Iran to sell oil without limitations
• The 60-day ceasefire extension will apply to Lebanon, but Israel will be able to act against immediate threats from Hezbollah.

Israeli skepticism

The report quoted an American source saying the MoU “is designed to bring everybody to the table. The details will be finalized in the course of the [60-day] negotiations. There are those in the Iranian regime who recognize that this is an opportunity to move in a different direction. We will find out during the talks if that is indeed the case.”

The source added: “If it becomes clear during the talks that Iran cannot deliver the goods on the nuclear issue, Trump will have all options on the table — economic and military.”

Meanwhile, an Israeli source separately told Channel 12 that there may be a split between Iran’s negotiators and the supreme leader.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf “may have reached agreements and guiding points with the Iranian negotiating team, but they do not have signing rights,” the Israeli source tells Channel 12. “We do not have indications that Mojtaba has said yes.”

Pakistani FM to meet Rubio in DC

Earlier Thursday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry announced that Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar would visit Washington on Friday to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Dar will meet Rubio “to review bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Islamabad is attempting to negotiate a peace pact to permanently end the US-Israeli war with Iran. Israel, which Pakistan doesn’t recognize, has not been represented in the talks, though it launched the war together with the US.

Dar’s visit would come in the shadow of the most serious clashes between the US and Iran since the ongoing ceasefire began. On Thursday, Iran fired drones at ships trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz, drawing retaliation from Iran against a US military base.

After the exchange, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened a “firm response” in the event of renewed attacks.

“If this action is repeated, the US military will face a firm response,” the Guards said in a statement on their Sepah News website.