Trump confirmed the high-level White House talks the day after The Associated Press and other news outlets reported that U.S. and Iranian negotiators had come to terms on a tentative agreement. The deal would extend the fragile ceasefire by 60 days as new talks are held on Iran’s disputed nuclear program.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the sides continued to debate "a couple of language points” and he couldn't say whether Trump would approve the proposal.
According to a U.S. official familiar with the matter, the tentative agreement would continue the ceasefire in the 3-month-old war by 60 days and start a new round of talks on Iran's nuclear program.
Among the first issues to be negotiated during the 60-day ceasefire would be what will happen to Iran’s highly enriched uranium, said the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Islamic Republic has 972 pounds of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Vance said Thursday evening that the sides were going back and forth on “a couple of issues on the nuclear stuff, the highly enriched stockpile, and also the question of enrichment.” The vice president suggested negotiators were trying to strike general terms on the uranium issue in the tentative agreement, with the specifics to be hammered out in the ensuing talks.
Though Trump and his team said from the start of the conflict that one of their prime objectives was to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, Vance framed the war’s accomplishments as something far less definitive.
“We’re in a position where we could substantially set back their nuclear program, not just during the term of this president but over the long term,” Vance said. “That’s a very very good thing for the American people.”
The proposed memorandum makes clear that Iran will not be able to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran will have to remove all mines from the vital waterway within 30 days, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
During the war, Iran has effectively closed the strait, which had been the conduit for about a fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas. Its closure has sent oil prices skyrocketing around the world.
