Iran says deal with US closer than ever as Trump lashes out
Iran's foreign minister insisted on Friday that a deal with the United States to end the war in the Middle East had never been closer, after US President Donald Trump furiously accused Tehran of negotiating in bad faith.
The angry reaction came after Iranian media published a breakdown of what was purportedly on the table, stressing that Iran would insist on its right to enrich uranium and to control shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
That clashed, however, with the characterisation offered by a senior White House official, who told AFP Iran had agreed to dismantle its nuclear program, destroy its enriched uranium stockpile and reopen the strait -- and that Tehran would not see any of its frozen funds returned until it had honored these commitments.
On Thursday, Trump had suggested a deal was imminent after weeks of halting negotiations to end the war sparked by US-Israeli strikes on February 28, but on Friday he angrily dismissed the Iranian account of the draft as lies.
"The terms that Iran leaked out to the Fake News have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing. What they said, including their weak and pathetic statement on having a deal, bears no relation to the truth," he said in a post on his social media platform.
"Very dishonorable people to deal with," he continued. "They better get their act together, and FAST!"
Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, appeared to try to play down the row.
"The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has never been closer," he wrote in a social media post, referring to the Pakistani capital that hosted previous US-Iran talks.
"Pending its finalization, the media should refrain from entering speculation about its content," he added.
Trump later posted a screenshot of Araghchi's message on his own feed.
- 'Not sure how I feel' -
A ceasefire took effect in April, but sporadic episodes of violence have occurred, each time sparking new fears of a return to all-out war, despite Trump repeatedly stating a deal was within reach.
US ally Israel has said that Trump had promised it that any agreement would see Iran stripped of its enriched nuclear material, but Tehran's official IRNA news agency said this was not even on the table.
According to IRNA's account, after an initial agreement is signed, Iran and the US would hold 60 more days of talks and that "Iran's right to enrich uranium and the retention of enriched material... will be emphasised with a view to their inclusion in the final agreement".
Beyond this, according to IRNA, Iran would insist on managing traffic though the Strait of Hormuz, the key maritime trade route carrying oil and gas from the Gulf, which Tehran has blockaded since the outbreak of the war.
Iran, which has only allowed a trickle of ships to pass through the strait, has insisted that vessels obtain permission from its armed forces before transiting.
In Tehran, some ordinary Iranians feared a deal would entrench the authorities' rule.
"I am not sure how I feel," a 29-year-old cafe worker told AFP on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
"I don't know if it will be good or bad for us. The main purpose of this war was for the US to remove the system and this did not happen. So what does a deal do?"
- Broad outlines -
Iran's demands could further complicate the finalization of an accord, despite Trump's optimism spurring a stock market rally and a sharp drop in oil prices.
On Thursday, claiming that the deal had been "brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved," Trump cancelled a threatened wave of bombings, adding: "Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly."
Trump said the finer points of the arrangement had been approved by the US and its allies in the region, including Israel.
On Friday, Iran's Mehr news agency, quoting a source close to Iran's negotiating team, published what it said was the text of a draft deal being finalised.
The draft, it said, would end the war on all fronts -- including Lebanon, where Israel has kept up its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah -- see the release of $24 billion in Iran's frozen assets, and set a 60-day period for negotiations on Tehran's nuclear programme.
It also includes the suspension of sanctions on the sale of Iran's oil, the lifting of a US naval blockade on Iranian ports and plans to make the US and its allies pay Iran reparations for damage caused by the war.
burs-dc/smw
L.Rodriguez--RTC
