Iran: Trump prepares to make “his final decision”

Any agreement with Iran to end the war will only be signed by Donald Trump if his “red lines are satisfied”, the White House assured on Friday, in full uncertainty over the outcome of the discussions between Tehran and Washington.

After clashes this week, the most serious since the truce came into force on April 8, sources in Washington spoke on Thursday of a framework agreement providing for an extension of the ceasefire for 60 days.

But the American president procrastinated and held a meeting at the White House Friday afternoon during which he was to take a final decision on a possible agreement with Tehran. The meeting, which lasted two hours, did not, however, result in any immediate announcement.

The Iranians must accept that they will never have a nuclear weapon. The Strait of Hormuz must be opened immediately and Tehran must commit to demining it, the American president said before the meeting on his network Truth Social.

Donald Trump also demanded, in capital letters, that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium be It destroys.

In the evening, a White House official said that President Trump will only sign a deal if it is good for America and his red lines are met.

Iran cannot have a nuclear weaponreiterated this source in a statement sent to theAFP.

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Excessive requests

Discussions continue, but no final agreement has yet been reachedsaid the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaïl Baghaï, in reaction to Donald Trump’s comments.

He also denied any discussion at this stage on the nuclear issue and defended the special situation of the Strait of Hormuz, due to its geographical location in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman.

Trump claimed Iran was required to open the Strait of Hormuz without tolls, despite no such clause in the text of the agreementaccording to sources cited by Fars.

The destruction of Iran’s nuclear materials is also not included, they added.

The Iranian government had previously castigated excessive demands as well as changing and contradictory positions of the United States. Reaching a final agreement depends on stopping the attitude of the American sideinsisted the head of Iranian diplomacy, Abbas Araghchi, in a call with his Omani counterpart.

Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, for his part, affirmed that his country was ready to act to find a respectful framework to end the war during a telephone interview with the Emir of Qatar, according to the Irna agency.

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Who tells the truth?

In Tehran, residents follow these diplomatic negotiations, disillusioned. Both camps make comments intended to satisfy their supporters. It’s hard to know who’s telling the truthcomments Ali, a 49-year-old Iranian from Tonekabon, on the Caspian Sea.

The war in the Middle East, triggered on February 28 by an Israeli-American offensive against Iran, has left thousands dead and is shaking the world economy by pushing up oil prices.

The markets are betting on an agreement, with crude oil prices at their lowest in more than a month.

Maritime traffic in the strait has accelerated, but this does not mean a return to the pre-war situationaccording to Iranian state television, access remains prohibited to ships from countries hostiles.

Among other points of contention, the Iranian government is seeking to obtain the release of 24 billion in assets frozen abroad, with the payment of a first half upon the conclusion of the memorandum of understanding.

But Donald Trump said Friday that there would be no no money exchange at the moment.

Trêve au Liban, passage obligé

Tehran is also calling for an end to the fighting on all fronts, particularly in Lebanon, where its ally, Hezbollah, and Israel are clashing, while the truce in force since April 17 has never been respected.

The Israeli army further extended its “combat zone” on Friday while continuing its deadly strikes.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported on Friday 11 deaths, including a rescuer, in Israeli strikes in the south of the country, and denounced a flagrant violation of humanitarian law.

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The Shiite movement, for its part, claimed responsibility for a new series of attacks against military targets in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, while discussions described as constructive took place in Washington on a military level.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stressed to the head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio, that a cessation of hostilities was a passage obligé before any diplomatic progress.

In the old city of Tyre, hundreds of people flocked to flee Israeli warnings.

According to the latest official report, Israeli strikes have killed 3,355 people in Lebanon since the start of the war in early March, when Hezbollah attacked Israel in retaliation for the Israeli-American offensive on Iran.