Uranium and “packets of money” remain among the main problems in reaching an agreement
The US carried out “self-defense” strikes in Iran this weekend, while President Donald Trump returned changes to a proposed agreement to extend the existing ceasefire in the region and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The weekend’s attacks in Iran targeted Iranian radars and command and control centers and were a response to “aggressive Iranian actions that included the shooting down of a North American MQ-1 drone operating over international waters,” US Central Command said in the early hours of Monday.
“US combat aircraft responded quickly, eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters,” Central Command said.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have attacked a US airbase allegedly used to launch an attack on a telecommunications tower on Sirik Island, Iran, according to a statement released by several Iranian state media outlets.
The statement did not specify which air base was attacked, but the announcement came after Kuwait said it had repelled drone and missile attacks.
Iran and the US have repeatedly exchanged fire since a fragile ceasefire came into force in early April, including last week when Kuwait also said it had been targeted by Iranian missiles and drones. These clashes have shaken the region, but so far have not led to the collapse of the ceasefire.
Memorandum of Understanding
At the heart of ongoing negotiations to end hostilities is a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran that would end hostilities and lay the groundwork for further talks on key outstanding issues.
The latest changes proposed by Trump, made after a meeting with advisers on Friday, had already extended negotiations for another week.
“Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good deal for the US and those with us,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social after Central Command confirmed the latest attacks.
The exact changes requested by Trump were not immediately clear, but officials said the US president insisted on tougher language regarding Iran’s nuclear commitments and his promise to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. US allies in the Gulf were informed of the discussions. A foreign official familiar with the matter told CNN that the changes are not substantial and focus mainly on the US desire for reassurance on these issues.
Trump also expressed concern about possible financial aid to Iran as part of the deal, wary of comparisons with the “pallets of money” delivered under the Obama-era nuclear deal, which he considers weak.
Before the announcement of the latest attacks on Iran, a US official told CNN that further military attacks are unlikely with a deal reached, and that regional allies do not want to resume combat operations.
The latest wave of proposed changes comes a week after Trump declared the deal “virtually finished” and signaled that an end to the war was imminent.
Since then, US officials have demonstrated progress in reaching an agreement that would end hostilities, reopen the strait and begin more detailed negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
However, even after Trump announced he would make a “final decision” during Friday’s meeting and detailed some of the conditions of the deal on social media, the two-hour session ended without a conclusive decision.
Although Trump stated in his message that the US would confiscate and destroy Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, Iran has repeatedly stated that it is not discussing details of its nuclear program in ongoing negotiations.
Trump also claimed that there was no discussion about exchanging money as part of the agreement, a condition that Iran considers mandatory in any pact.
How these discrepancies will be resolved remains uncertain as negotiations on the wording of the agreement continue.
Axios and The New York Times previously reported on Trump’s call for changes.
Iran does not trust the enemy
The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, declared this Sunday that no agreement will be approved with the United States until Tehran’s “rights” are guaranteed, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
“Soldiers on the diplomatic battlefield do not trust the enemy’s words and promises. What matters to us are the tangible achievements we must obtain, in exchange for which we will fulfill our commitments,” Ghalibaf said.
CNN has learned that an Iranian ballistic missile was intercepted last week near the Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait, causing minor injuries among soldiers at the base due to falling debris, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said Sunday morning that the terms Trump presented last week for a deal appear acceptable on paper, but expressed skepticism about their feasibility in practice — particularly regarding the Strait of Hormuz.
“While we can use our technological superiority to bomb major factories in Iran, we will not be able to stop them from using their mines to close the Strait of Hormuz and their drones to attack us and our allies,” Coons, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We are going to need a rigorous agreement to actually deal with this new capability that Iran has demonstrated in this war.”
In response to Iran’s control over the strait, a crucial passage for global energy trade, Trump ordered the US Navy to blockade the country’s ports and remove Iranian mines from the strait.
The blockade continued in the middle of the negotiations, with the US Armed Forces, on Friday, disabling a Gambian-flagged ship heading to Iran, firing a missile at the engine room, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM).
CENTCOM said in a statement posted on social media on Saturday that the M/V Lian Star was en route to an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman when the US military issued “more than 20 warnings” that the vessel was violating the US blockade of Iranian ports.
This was the fifth commercial ship disabled by the US military since the blockade began, CENTCOM reported. More than 100 vessels were also redirected.
Oil reserves
As economic impacts continue amid negotiations, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that the federal government and private companies still have “billions” of barrels of oil in reserve, using stockpiles to offset rising oil prices.
“There’s a lot of room to maneuver… there’s a lot of pressure on Iran to finally accept the president’s terms,” he said in an interview with ABC’s “This Week,” responding to an Exxon Mobil executive’s concerns last Thursday that inventories are approaching “unprecedented” levels.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve decreased by another 9.1 million barrels between May 15 and 22, according to a weekly report released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This represents a larger drop than the record 8.6 million barrels recorded on May 13.
If a deal with Iran is confirmed and current blockages are removed from the Strait of Hormuz, oil supplies could take two months to return to normal, Hassett said.
The fall in oil prices will also depend on how quickly refineries are able to resume the flow of oil, after production stopped in the middle of the war.
High oil prices have caused gasoline prices to rise. The average price of gasoline in the U.S. hit $4.34 a gallon this Sunday, according to AAA. This represents a drop of about 18 cents from the previous week, but remains almost 46% higher compared to the start of the war.
Rising energy prices have affected Americans’ perception of the economy. Just 16% of Americans rate the economy as excellent or good, according to a recent Gallup poll.
Hassett played down Americans’ negative perception of the economy, saying that gains in real wages and the stock market offset inflation.
“If they look at their wallets and see how much money they have after the price rise, they will realize they have a lot more money,” he said.
CNN’s Auzinea Bacon, Kaitlan Collins, Zachary Cohen, Haley Britzky, Billy Stockwell, Dalia Abdelwahab, Kaanita Iyer and Kathleen Magramo contributed to this article
