President Donald Trump said an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the conflict with Iran would be signed on Sunday, even as both sides have differed on the details.
“The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL,” Trump said in a social media post on Saturday.
Pakistan, which has served as a mediator, is preparing for the electronic signing of the peace deal, “followed by technical level talks next week,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a key mediator in talks between Washington and Tehran, said earlier Saturday.
Trump also said Iran would not get any money in the deal, which was a key sticking point for Iran during negotiations mediated by Pakistan.
Trump said the US would “go in and get the Nuclear Dust,” his term for the Islamic Republic’s highly enriched uranium, when the other components of the deal were settled and would destroy it either in Iran or the US.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed Trump’s expectations for a signing in a speech carried by state television on Friday, but a spokesman ruled out a signing on Sunday, according to state-run IRIB news.
Trump has vowed dozens of times that an agreement to end the war that began in February is near, only for none to materialize so far. The primary US objectives are to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic, and curb Iran’s nuclear program. Iran insists on retaining a degree of control over the waterway and gaining immediate access to its frozen funds, while negotiations over the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment would take place after the interim deal is signed.
