US President Donald Trump has said that Iran has pledged not to acquire nuclear weapons, one of the sticking points in negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end the war between the two countries, writes AFP on Sunday.
While the two countries appeared in recent days to be nearing an agreement, The New York Times reported on Saturday that the US president had toughened his proposal and sent a new version of the text to Tehran.
The American press could not detail the changes made by the White House leader. But according to Axios, Trump wants a firmer position from Washington on several issues he considers personally important, particularly the fate of Iran's stockpiles of enriched uranium.
In an interview with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, taped earlier this week and broadcast Saturday on Fox News, the US president said he had received assurances that Tehran would not acquire nuclear weapons, either by manufacturing or acquiring them.
“The only guarantee I need is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They accepted that, and that was very interesting,” Trump said.
“They initially said, 'We will not develop nuclear weapons.' I asked them, 'OK, but what would happen if you bought a nuclear weapon?'. Now they say, 'We will not develop or buy a weapon under any circumstances,'” added the American leader.
Trump “is in no rush”
“I'm in no rush,” the Republican billionaire said. “Slowly but surely, I think we're getting what we want. And if we don't get what we want, things will end differently,” Trump said.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Saturday that the United States is “more than capable” of resuming war against Iran if negotiations fail.
The nuclear issue is one of the main points of disagreement between the United States and Iran in these negotiations to end the war, which was triggered on February 28 by the Israeli-American offensive against the Islamic Republic.
The United States and Israel accuse Tehran of wanting to acquire atomic weapons, a charge Iran denies.
Iran has so far insisted on addressing the nuclear issue later, after the signing of the agreement currently under discussion.
The war has killed thousands and is rocking the world economy by driving up oil prices.
The other major point of contention is the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic passage for the world trade in hydrocarbons, practically blocked by Iran since the beginning of the war. The United States imposes, in turn, a blockade of Iranian ports.
Washington has stated its opposition to maintaining Iranian control over this sea route.
Ship hit by Americans in the Strait of Hormuz
The US military's Middle East Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday it had intercepted a Gambian-flagged cargo ship trying to reach an Iranian port with a missile.
And according to sources among Iranian sailors quoted by the Tasnim news agency, the United States continues to impede the movement of Iranian merchant ships.
The Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic Republic's ideological army, said on Sunday they had shot down a US MQ1 drone which they said was preparing to enter Iranian territorial waters to carry out “hostile operations”. The US military did not respond to this information.
Among its demands to Washington, Tehran is seeking the release of billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen by the United States.
Iranian state television said on Saturday, citing an unofficial transcript of the text, that the agreement protocol discussed provides for the release, within 60 days, of $12 billion
Iran is also calling for an end to fighting in Lebanon, where since March 2 its ally Hezbollah has been fighting Israel, despite a cease-fire in place since April 17 that is not being respected.
On Sunday, the Israeli military announced on X that it was “expanding to other areas” its ground operation against the pro-Iranian movement after crossing the Litani River in southern Lebanon.
