The United States warned on Saturday that it was “more than capable” of resuming war with Iran after President Donald Trump said any peace deal must adhere to his red lines, including that Tehran can never produce nuclear weapons.
The White House had signaled Trump was close to a decision on an initial deal after weeks of mixed signals on weak negotiations, although Tehran denied a final deal was in place to end the Middle East conflict that has rocked the global economy.
US sources had told AFP the deal was awaiting Trump’s signature, but the president had made no decision after a two-hour meeting in the White House situation room on Friday in Washington.
Meanwhile, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, attending a major Asia defense summit in Singapore, said on Saturday local time that Washington could restart the war if it wanted to.
“Our ability to restart if necessary is (that) we’re more than capable, our stockpiles are more than adequate for that, both there and around the globe because of the way we balance superior and more abundant munitions,” he said.
This was echoed by US Central Command (CENTCOM), which posted on X that US forces “remain present and alert throughout the region”.
Efforts to reach a deal brokered by Pakistan were called into question this week by US strikes on the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, which were met with retaliatory fire from Iran.
However, diplomacy continued to include a parallel process to stop the fighting in Lebanon – which Iran has insisted be included in any official end to the war and where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israeli forces had advanced even as military delegations from the two countries met at the Pentagon in Washington.
Trump’s priorities in any deal included Iran agreeing never to develop nuclear weapons and reopening the blocked Strait of Hormuz sea route, he said in a social media post that also announced the Situation Room meeting.
“President Trump will only make a deal that is good for America and meets his red lines,” a White House official told AFP after the meeting.
“Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon,” the official added.
Competitive terms
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei pushed back on Trump’s terms, telling state media that the Islamic republic “said goodbye to the language ‘must'” 47 years ago.
Exchanges of messages were continuing, he added, but “no final agreement has been reached yet.”
In a phone call with Qatar’s emir, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was ready to reach a “dignified framework” to end the war, according to state news agency IRNA.
In his post, Trump said Tehran would remove mines from the Strait of Hormuz and end the blockade of the free waterway, while the US would lift its parallel blockade of Iranian ports.
The two countries will also coordinate on the removal and destruction of Iran’s enriched uranium, he said, adding that “no money will be exchanged, until further notice.”
Iran’s Fars news agency, however, quoted sources as saying that Tehran was seeking the “immediate release of $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets” before moving on to the next stage of negotiations.
Regarding the free reopening of Hormuz, the sources said that “no such clause appears in the text of the agreement”, while Trump’s comment about the destruction of Iran’s nuclear material “is fundamentally unfounded”.
Ali, a resident of the city of Tonekabon north of Tehran, said more strife is likely to come.
“Both sides are talking in a way that keeps their supporters happy. It is not clear who is telling the truth,” the 49-year-old said.
The war in Lebanon
On the other main war front in Lebanon, heavy fighting continued.
Netanyahu announced on Friday that Israeli forces had advanced across a river that runs about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the Lebanon-Israel border.
Hezbollah also said its forces launched attacks in northern Israel, as well as Israeli troops trying to advance near the medieval Beaufort fortress, also known as Qalaat al-Chakif, a site Israeli forces had used as a base during their two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was supposed to take effect on April 17, but has never been observed with both sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire.
Lebanon was drawn into the war in early March when Tehran-backed Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel for killing Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion.
Israel and Lebanon began direct talks in April, with a fourth round expected next week in Washington after military delegations from both sides met on Friday.
