Iran is sending a defiant message following US officials' statements about the prospect of a deal
“The winner of any deal will be the one who is better prepared for war the next day,” Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said after Reuters sources said President Donald Trump was looking at a potential initial deal between Washington and Tehran to extend the truce and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran expects actions, not words, from the United States, the Iranian official said, in what Reuters described as a message consistent with past defiant statements.
“We don't trust guarantees or words, only actions are the criterion. No action will be taken until the other side acts,” Qalibaf added in the message on social media.
What the agreement might look like
Four sources familiar with the situation told the news agency that the potential deal would extend a truce that took effect in April by 60 days and allow oil and gas transit through the Strait of Hormuz while negotiators tackle difficult issues such as Iran's nuclear program.
According to the sources, Trump has not yet given the green light to the deal. Iran's Tasnim news agency wrote that the text has not yet been finalized and has undergone changes in recent days.
The foreign minister of Pakistan, a mediating country, went to Washington on Friday for talks with the head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio.
The sources had said on Thursday that a deal would include unrestricted shipping through the strait and require the lifting of the US blockade targeting Iranian ports. Additionally, Washington would lift some sanctions on Iranian oil sales.
The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on ships associated with Iran's oil trade and said it would prevent Iranian air carriers from refueling.
Iran has called for the lifting of sanctions, the unfreezing of foreign assets and the withdrawal of US forces from the region. Washington has called on Iran to dismantle its nuclear program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes.
Tehran has said that any peace deal must also stop Israeli attacks in Lebanon, but the conflict there shows no signs of deescalating.
The most pressing issue is unblocking the Strait of Hormuz, through which in peacetime a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed.
Iranian state television claims that no ships will transit the strait without authorization from Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
