US President Donald Trump said Friday that he was making his decision on a potential deal with Iran, though Tehran insisted there was still “no final agreement” on ending the Middle East war.
A report from Iran’s Fars news agency also rebutted several key elements of Trump’s characterisation of the deal, citing informed sources as calling his remarks a “mixture of truth and lies”.
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US sources had told AFP the deal was just waiting on Trump’s sign-off following weeks of halting negotiations to end a conflict that has engulfed the Middle East and shaken the global economy.
Trump attended a two-hour meeting in the White House Situation Room on Friday, but did not reach a decision on any new deal with Iran, the New York Times reported.
‘Fundamentally baseless’
Trump announced the meeting in a lengthy social media post, reiterating long-held demands that Iran agree never to have nuclear weapons and must open the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, however, told state media that the Islamic Republic “said goodbye to the language of ‘must’ 47 years ago”.
“Regarding the understanding … exchanges of messages are continuing, but no final agreement has been reached yet,” he added.
In his post, Trump said Tehran would remove mines in the Strait of Hormuz and end its blockade of the waterway with “no tolls”, while the US would lift its parallel blockade of Iranian ports.
The two countries would coordinate on removing and destroying Iran’s enriched uranium, he said, adding that “no money will be exchanged, until further notice”.
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Fars, however, cited Iranian sources as saying that Tehran was demanding “the immediate release of $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets” and that “until this payment is made, Iran will not move to the next phase of negotiations”.
As for the toll-free reopening of Hormuz, the sources said, “no such clause appears in the text of the agreement”, while the comment on destroying Iran’s nuclear material “is fundamentally baseless”.
Baghaei also told state TV that there were currently “no negotiations” taking place on Iran’s nuclear programme.
‘Severe response’
Washington and Tehran have accused each other of violating the truce in and around the strait as recently as this week, with US strikes on the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas countered by retaliatory Iranian fire.
Iranian state TV said Friday that 24 ships had transited the strait in the past 24 hours, in coordination with the Revolutionary Guards and the foreign ministry.
But it warned that “ships from hostile countries face a severe response” from Iran’s military.
Lebanon fighting
On the war’s Lebanon front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that his country’s forces had pushed deeper inside Lebanon, while Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a series of drone attacks on military targets in northern Israel, including troop gatherings and a barracks.
The attacks came as Israeli and Lebanese military delegations were holding security talks in Washington.
Netanyahu said troops had crossed the Litani River, around 30 kilometres north of the Lebanon-Israel frontier, and were “hitting Hezbollah head on”.
Israel also kept up its heavy bombardment of southern Lebanon.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was supposed to have taken effect on April 17, but has never been observed.
Both sides accuse each other of violating it and justify their attacks by the other camp’s alleged breaches.
Lebanon was drawn into the war in early March when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel over the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli attacks, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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