President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and many members of the administration have been at the White House over the holiday weekend hammering out the final details on a possible deal to end the war in Iran.
Iran said Monday that Tehran and Washington have struck understandings on many subjects in negotiations over a deal for ending the war but warned that an accord is not imminent.
“It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said during a weekly news briefing.
“But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent—no one can make such a claim,” he said, accusing Washington of shifting its positions.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that a deal to end the war with Iran could materialize “today,” adding that Israel had the right to defend itself against attack.
“We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today; I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Rubio said in New Delhi, referring to the potential agreement.
“We have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open,” he told reporters as he departed the Indian capital, where he has been on an official visit.
“It has a lot of support in the Gulf. … Every country that we’ve walked through it (with) understands it’s not just very reasonable, but it’s the right thing for the world to get done,” Rubio continued.
Rubio also voiced confidence that Iran would “enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter.”
But, he said the U.S. will either have a good accord with Iran or deal with the country “another way,” according to the Reuters news agency.
The U.S. will give diplomacy every chance to succeed before exploring the “alternatives,” Rubio added.
He addressed reporters ahead of the next leg of his India visit, the northern city of Agra, famous for the Taj Mahal.
Trump said if he makes a deal with Iran, it will be a “good and proper one,” criticizing the Obama administration’s record with Iran and accusing the former president of giving Iran “massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon.”
“Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social. “It isn’t even fully negotiated yet. So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about.”
A top administration official said on Sunday that the Iranians have agreed to a deal that would include getting rid of highly enriched uranium.
However, work is still being done to finalize the deal.
In a final deal, Iran would also have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the U.S. lifting its blockade of the waterway.
If Iran agrees to lessen its nuclear enrichment, the U.S. would also be willing to ease sanctions.
The source said that most people agree on the basic ideas, and the Trump administration is pleased with how things are going, even though they are still working on finishing up the specifics.
The official said that Iran seems more open to making deals now than it did before the military operation.
The official said that the government wants to see a strong promise not to enrich.
They say it doesn’t matter if the promise is for 20 or 30 years; what matters is how it will be enforced.
The source said they think the deal will go further than the Obama administration’s 2015 nuclear deal, which let enrichment go up to a certain point.