Trump rejects Iranian report on ceasefire terms as talks wobble
Trump said Iranian state media published false ceasefire terms, casting doubt on efforts to turn a pause in fighting into a longer deal.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
US President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian state media account of possible ceasefire terms on Friday, saying the report did not match a written agreement he said had been reached. The dispute matters because Trump had said a day earlier that a deal with Iran had been approved and could be formally signed within days.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump called the published terms “fake news” and said they had “NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,” according to Al Jazeera. He described the people behind the account as “very dishonorable” and said they were not dealing in good faith.
Trump did not identify the specific report he was criticizing, Al Jazeera reported. His post came soon after IRNA, Iran’s official state news agency, published what it described as seven main points of a preliminary ceasefire deal.
IRNA’s account pointed to little movement by Tehran on issues that have delayed a longer settlement since a pause in fighting was reached in early April, according to Al Jazeera. The war began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran, Al Jazeera reported.
On Iran’s nuclear program, IRNA said no new agreement had been reached. The agency reported that new nuclear talks would begin 60 days after the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the United States.
IRNA also said Iran had not agreed to give up control of the Strait of Hormuz. According to the agency, the preliminary understanding covered the normalization of passage through the waterway and maritime security, with Tehran to address that issue with Oman.
The Iranian report said some frozen Iranian assets would be released when a deal is signed. IRNA said additional asset releases, sanctions relief and compensation for war damage would be discussed later.
IRNA further reported that the United States had committed to ending Israel’s continuing invasion and offensive in Lebanon. Trump’s Truth Social post rejected the reported terms broadly but did not set out the version of the agreement he said had been put in writing.
The exchange followed weeks in which Trump and senior US officials alternated between threats against Iran and statements that a deal was close, according to Al Jazeera. Earlier this week, the United States and Iran traded strikes over two days.
Trump said Thursday that a third day of planned US attacks had been halted because of what he described as a diplomatic breakthrough, Al Jazeera reported. Hours later, the United States shot down two drones that it said were trying to attack ships near the Strait of Hormuz.
In his Friday post, Trump called that drone incident “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” according to Al Jazeera. The public clash over the reported terms left the status of the ceasefire effort uncertain despite Trump’s earlier claim that an agreement had been approved.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.