President Donald Trump said Sunday that he will not “rush into a deal” to end the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, after senior Republican lawmakers warned it could be a “disastrous mistake.”
“Time is on our side,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social, a step back from earlier public statements from Trump and officials from both nations that had indicated a deal was close to being announced.
He added: “There can be no mistakes! Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one.”
Later Sunday, a senior administration official told NBC News, “The Iran agreement will not be signed today, but there has been progress on a deal.”
Details of a potential agreement are beginning to emerge.
The framework, according to a senior administration official, would give the U.S. 60 days to reach a deal that the official said “will deliver on President Trump’s priorities and ensure the United States and the region are safer and more prosperous going forward.”
The agreement would prevent the Iranians from developing a nuclear weapon, the senior administration official said, and commit them to give up the “nuclear dust” — Trump’s term for enriched uranium — and it would work out a mechanism to shape talks with Iranians over the next 60 days.
The official said the framework would also get the Strait of Hormuz “de-mined and back open for business” and bring relief to Americans at the pump.
According to the official, the memorandum of understanding is structured such that Iran “gets nothing until they deliver,” tying loosening the blockade to opening the strait and delivering the enriched uranium.
But as the White House touts the proposed agreement, Iranian officials and state media have put out statements to the contrary. Iranian state media has said the strait will reopen only if the U.S. lifts its naval blockade within the first 30 days of the deal. It also says the strait will not return to “pre-war” operations, in which Iran did not oversee passage of vessels through the channel.
The same outlet said Iran’s purported commitment to removing nuclear materials is wrong.
Trump sounded more upbeat on a potential deal Saturday afternoon, writing on Truth Social that a deal “has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in India on Sunday morning that there had been “some progress over the last 48 hours working with our partners in the Gulf region,” adding: “Perhaps there is the possibility that over the next few hours the world will get some good news.”
Iranian state media reported Sunday that a deal could see the lifting of oil sanctions and the end to a U.S. blockade of its ports, with a return to “pre-war levels” of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days.
A 60-day negotiation period would be set for discussions on the nuclear issue, Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian added Sunday that his country was “ready to assure the world” that it is not seeking nuclear weapons, according to state media.
“We are not seeking unrest in the region,” he was quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic News Agency, adding: “Under no circumstances will we or the negotiating team compromise on the country’s dignity and pride.”
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he had been “an hour away” from deciding to resume strikes against Iran when the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates asked him to hold off.
But some Republicans had slammed the possibility of a deal.
“The rumored 60-day ceasefire — with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good faith — would be a disaster. Everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught!” Sen. Roger Wicker, the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote on X.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in an X post he was “deeply concerned about what we are hearing,” adding that leaving an emboldened Iranian regime intact would be a “disastrous mistake.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also questioned the deal and warned it could lead to a “major shift of the balance of power in the region.”
“It makes one wonder why the war started to begin with if these perceptions are accurate,” Graham added.
In a post on Truth Social later Sunday, the president slammed critics of a potential deal, saying, “it isn’t even fully negotiated yet.”
“Nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet. So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about,” Trump wrote. “Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals!”
On Saturday, Trump held a call with leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to discuss the prospective agreement.
Two regional diplomats with knowledge of the talks confirmed to NBC News that Vice President JD Vance and Steve Witkoff were also on the call, that the call was positive and that good progress is being made.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar commended “President Trump’s leadership and commitment to dialogue and diplomacy” following the call, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his country stands “ready to provide every kind of support during the implementation phase of a potential agreement with Iran.”
Trump also held a separate phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which he said in his post on Saturday “went very well.”
In a phone call Saturday with Axios, the president resumed previous threats against Iran that have made the ongoing two-month ceasefire tense at times. Trump told the news outlet there was a “50/50” chance of making a “good” deal or “blow[ing] them to kingdom come.”
Earlier in the week, Trump said he’d called off a planned attack on Iran after regional U.S. allies urged him to hold off because negotiations were moving in a positive direction.
The war began in late February with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and has led to surging oil prices and threats of escalation, including Trump’s statement in April that “a whole civilization will die tonight.”
The conflict has led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and cost U.S. taxpayers over $25 billion, per estimates from the Pentagon to U.S. lawmakers last month. Thousands of people have been killed across the region, including more than 3,000 in Iran, according to an official from the country.
