President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran has “sort of agreed” to the terms of a nuclear deal with the U.S.
“I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this,” Trump said, alluding to U.S. military action. “You probably read today the story about Iran. It’s sort of agreed to the terms.” The president’s comments came during a visit to Doha.
The president seemed to be referring to an article published Wednesday by NBC News. Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, told the network that Tehran, in exchange for sanctions relief, would relinquish its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, limit enrichment activities to what’s needed for civilian nuclear energy, permit international inspections, and vow to never build nuclear weapons.
Shamkhani, referring to the influence on negotiations of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said, “If the Americans remove the Bibi effect, they can easily sign the deal.”
Trump posted the article on Truth Social on Thursday.
Axios reported early Thursday that on Sunday the White House, for the first time, issued a written proposal for a deal, which Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took back to Tehran. Mediators have urged Araghchi to accept a three-year pause on Iran’s uranium enrichment, according to the Guardian.
Trump, in his comments in Doha, seemed to say that the U.S. wasn’t demanding that Tehran dismantle its entire nuclear energy infrastructure but only that it never build the bomb. The White House has sent mixed signals about its diplomatic demands since nuclear talks began in early April.
“They can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “That’s the only thing.”
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