US President Donald Trump said he had secured assurances from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons, after reports emerged that he had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Tehran.
Any changes to the proposal could further delay an agreement to formally end the war in the Middle East and open the Strait of Hormuz sea route after weeks of trying to secure a deal despite fractious rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of armed conflict.
The New York Times and Axios reported on Saturday that Trump had returned a new framework for consideration by Iran with “tougher” terms, though it was not immediately clear what that meant.
Trump has said his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from developing any nuclear weapons and reopening the blocked Strait of Hormuz.
“The only guarantee I have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They have agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview that aired on her Fox News program Saturday night.
But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions, and the two sides appeared to differ widely on their top priorities.
Iran has said it wants the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before moving to substantive talks on issues such as its nuclear program and called Trump’s previous comments that its enriched uranium – a precursor to nuclear weapons – would be destroyed “baseless”, according to Iranian media.
Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon must be involved in any end to the war, despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a “scorched earth policy” as its forces advanced and carried out further airstrikes it says target the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
After Trump and US officials said earlier they were on the verge of reaching a deal, he struck a less urgent tone and hinted at new military action in the Fox interview.
“I’m in no rush,” he said. “Slowly but surely we’re getting, I think, what we want, and if we don’t get what we want, we’re going to end up in a different way.”
Explosions
That echoed comments by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who told an Asia defense summit on Saturday that Washington was “more than capable” of resuming the war if necessary.
Although daily attacks across Iran and the Gulf have stopped since Tehran and Washington reached a temporary ceasefire in April following historic talks hosted by Pakistan, outbreaks of armed conflict have continued.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had shot down a US military drone “about to enter Iranian territorial waters to carry out hostile operations”, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported, an incident that has not been confirmed by the United States.
Earlier in the week, the fiercest fighting since the fragile ceasefire erupted when US forces launched attacks on the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, which were met with retaliatory fire from Iran.
However, diplomacy has continued with Trump under pressure to reach a deal that would lift competing US and Iranian blockades around the Strait of Hormuz, which have choked international oil supplies and threatened the global economy with rising prices.
After Trump said on social media that Tehran would not charge “any fees” to ships passing through the strait after blockades are lifted under any deal, Iran’s Fars news agency quoted sources as saying that “no such clause appears in the text of the deal.”
Iran’s ISNA news agency on Saturday quoted lawmaker Alireza Salimi as saying that a plan “to implement Iran’s management and sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz will soon be approved by parliament.”
Expanded Lebanon operations
The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for more villages in southern Lebanon on Saturday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces had pushed more than 30 kilometers (20 miles) into the country.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of pursuing a “policy of scorched earth and collective punishment” and called for “a quick and real ceasefire”.
The Israeli military confirmed it was expanding its ground offensive in a statement released early Sunday, saying “a significant number” of its forces had advanced across the Litani River and were conducting expanded operations against Hezbollah in the Beaufort Ridge and Wadi al-Saluki area.
A cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah began on April 17 but has never been observed, with both sides accusing each other of violating it.
In early March, Tehran-backed Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes, prompting Israel to launch near-daily airstrikes in Lebanon and launch a ground invasion.
Israel and Lebanon began direct talks in April, with a fourth round expected next week.
