Trump announces Iran deal to end war to be signed on Sunday: 'Strait of Hormuz will be opened immediately'
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday, in a post on his Truth Social platform, that the agreement to end the conflict with Iran will be signed on Sunday, and the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened immediately after this moment, notes CNBC.
“The agreement is scheduled to be signed tomorrow, and immediately after the signing, the Strait of Hormuz will be open to everyone,” the White House leader wrote.
Trump also suggested that the United States would work with Iran to remove enriched uranium from the country at an unspecified date.
“At the right time, when everything is calm, we will go there and retrieve the nuclear dust, buried deep under the mighty granite mountains,” he said.
“We look forward to working with Iran and the entire Middle East for a long time to come,” Trump added.
According to Axios, the United States and Iran, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, are expected to hold a virtual meeting on Sunday and electronically sign a memorandum of understanding that will extend the truce by 60 days, allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen and launch negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.
The US president's post ended with what appears to be a warning to Tehran if the Iranian leadership does not comply with Washington's demands.
“We hope this process will be quick, easy, and seamless. If not, we have the ultimate alternative that we hope we never have to use again!”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on Trump's remarks.
Earlier on Saturday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the United States and Iran were “closer than ever to a peace deal”, suggesting it could be finalized in the next 24 hours, with technical talks to take place next week. Trump retweeted these statements on his Truth Social account.
However, Iranian state media reported that Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei was tight-lipped about when the deal would be signed.
A senior Trump administration official also said Friday that the United States is not “100 percent” convinced the negotiated deal will be signed.
In its current form, the deal would guarantee “long-term peace in the region” and provide Iran with a “significant” easing of economic pressures.
Revolutionary Guards criticize Trump's “unusual insistence”.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) denied that Iran would sign a deal with the United States on Sunday and criticized what it called President Donald Trump's “unusual insistence” that the document be initialed as soon as tomorrow, CNN notes.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps described the timetable announced by the US leader as “a test for Iran's negotiating team” and pointed out that “Iranian negotiators have explicitly stated that the memorandum is not yet finalized and that its signing on Sunday is out of the question.”
In a message published on Telegram, the organization suggested that Trump may have wanted the signing of the agreement to coincide with his birthday, on June 14.
“Some observers believe that his insistence could be motivated by a desire to use the moment for symbolic purposes and turn it into a self-promotional event,” the IRGC statement said.
