The White House said Friday that Donald Trump will not sign any agreement with Iran that fails to meet every one of his conditions, after the president held a two-hour meeting with advisers in the Situation Room. No decision was taken at that session, the New York Times reported.
The talks between Washington and Tehran have been running for three months, brokered initially by Pakistan, with Qatar joining the mediation effort more recently. Both sides have sent mixed signals throughout, with positions hardening or softening in step with a stream of contradictory reports from American and Iranian media.
On Truth Social, Trump set out his demands in direct terms. Iran must commit permanently to never acquiring a nuclear weapon. The Strait of Hormuz must be reopened immediately to unrestricted two-way traffic, without fees, and all naval mines must be removed. He also said enriched materials would be extracted “in close coordination and cooperation with Tehran, in addition to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and will be destroyed.” He added that no money would be exchanged “until further notice.”
Trump also said ships blocked in the Strait of Hormuz under the American blockade would be allowed to move, and that the blockade “will now be lifted.”
A White House official, speaking anonymously after the meeting, was brief: “President Trump will not accept any deal that is not in America’s interest and does not meet his red lines. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
The conflict has reverberated across the Middle East and rattled the global economy in the months since it broke out.
