Trump says he has ‘largely negotiated’ Iran deal, including Strait of Hormuz opening

JTA – United States President Donald Trump announced in a post on Truth Social on Saturday afternoon that a deal with Iran had been “largely negotiated”, despite saying earlier in the day that he was undecided on whether to agree to a proposal or resume strikes. 

Trump described the deal as a “Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to peace” that was “subject to finalisation” by the United States, Iran, and other countries that participated in talks on Saturday. He noted that he’d “just had a very good call” with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain. 

Trump said in his Truth Social post that, separately, he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a conversation that “went very well”. There was no immediate statement from, the Prime Minister’s office following Trump’s post. 

“Final aspects and details of the deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,” Trump added. 

In the post, he said the deal would include the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, though a widely reported quote from Iran’s Fars New Agency, which is close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said that Trump’s assertion was “incomplete and inconsistent with reality” and that the strait would remain under Iranian control. 

Trump’s announcement comes more than a month since he unilaterally extended a fragile US-Iran ceasefire in April. 

The announcement didn’t make mention of Iran’s nuclear programme or highly enriched uranium, which Trump has previously stressed must be included in a deal. 

Trump’s announcement came hours after he told Axios that he was a “solid 50/50” on whether he would be able to make a “good” deal with Iran, or else “blow them to kingdom come”. 

Trump also told Axios that Netanyahu was “torn” over the potential deal but rejected the idea that the Israeli leader was “worried” that he might strike an unfavourable agreement.