The president of the USA engages in a continuous barrage of statements and interventions almost all day long. The US president appears to be optimistic about the status and terms of the Iran deal, which he expects to be signed within the next day or two, as he said in his most recent statements. At the same time, however, it appears clearly more restrained, warning that there are still significant differences with the .
Agreement in a day or two
More specifically, the US president argued in two different interviews that there are no “thorns” left in the talks with Tehran and that the main issues that remain open concern parallel foci of tension, such as the situation in Lebanon and the opening of the Straits of Hormuz, while he underlined that: “We are very close. It looks like it will be very good for everyone. And we are very close to closing the deal.” He further asserted that: “The Iranians want to meet. They want to reach an agreement. I think there will probably be a meeting over the weekend and we will come to an agreement within the next day or two.”
Later in a telephone interview with CBS he claimed that “Iran has already agreed to everything” and that the US will be the one to take the uranium from the country. Asked if that would be done by deploying troops, Donald Trump said: “No, not with troops. We’ll go over there and take it with them and wrestle it away. Together we will get it because by then we will have an agreement and there is no fighting when there is an agreement. Nice huh? Better that way. We would have done it the other way if we had to.” The US president also claimed that Tehran has agreed that it will no longer support terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas. He said the two sides would meet at the weekend and the US would continue the blockade until an agreement was reached.
Tehran is more cautious
At the same time, however, once again the Iranian media broadcast statements from top officials of the country, according to which the situation in the Straits, the nuclear program, the time of signing an agreement and many other details remain open and up for negotiation.
More specifically, as reported by Reuters, an unnamed official argued that the regime in the Straits in terms of transit is completely dependent on the American side respecting the terms of the truce and that the only thing that might be possible in the coming days, as the two sides have major differences on a number of issues, is a preliminary agreement. Key sticking points according to him are the nuclear program, sanctions and reparations and for these reasons an extension of the ceasefire may be needed after a preliminary agreement is signed.
Meanwhile, as the hours pass, Iran’s position appears increasingly firm on control of the Straits of Hormuz, with an Iranian official maintaining that the Straits are open to ships that pay dues.
The Iranian leadership also responded to Donald Trump’s claims about enriched uranium, with a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry saying: “Transferring Iran’s enriched uranium to the US has never been an option for Iran.”
