President Trump said Saturday that the United States and Iran were getting a lot closer to finalizing an agreement, even as he told reporters he would not sign anything unless Washington got everything it wanted. He said the deal would block Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and ensure that its enriched uranium was handled satisfactorily.
“I will only sign a deal where we get everything we want,” Trump said, adding that “every day it gets better and better.”
The remarks landed as his administration was weighing a proposal that could reshape the next phase of the talks. Sources familiar with the negotiations said the latest draft includes a process to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the unfreezing of some Iranian assets held in foreign banks and a continuation of negotiations. Trump was scheduled to speak Saturday afternoon with leaders of Gulf countries and other nations in a conference call devoted to the Iran talks.
For the White House, the timing matters because the president is still deciding whether to move ahead. Sources said Trump had not made up his mind and was still mulling proposals while consulting advisers and speaking with foreign leaders, including officials from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. The talks are unfolding against the backdrop of the ongoing Iranian conflict and U.S. consideration of possible strikes, which gives every new signal from Washington added weight.
That uncertainty is exactly what drew a sharp response from Sen. Lindsey Graham, who questioned the wisdom of striking a bargain with Tehran as news of a possible agreement began to leak on Saturday. Graham said that if a deal ends the conflict because the Strait of Hormuz cannot be protected from Iranian terrorism and Iran still has the power to destroy major Gulf oil infrastructure, then Iran would be seen as a dominant force requiring a diplomatic solution. He called that shift a “major” change in the balance of power and said it would be “a nightmare for Israel.”
“I personally am a skeptic of the idea that Iran cannot be denied the ability to terrorize the Strait and the region cannot protect itself against Iranian military capability,” Graham said, adding that it was “important we get this right.”
Iran, for its part, signaled that the nuclear issue was not on the table in the initial framework it was drafting to end the war with the United States. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, “At this stage, we will not discuss the details of the nuclear issue... we have decided to prioritise an urgent issue for all of us: ending the war on all fronts including Lebanon.”
The clash in messaging leaves the talks in a familiar but delicate place: Trump is pressing for a deal he says would strip Iran of the bomb, reopen key economic channels and keep negotiations moving, while Tehran is publicly trying to set the terms of discussion around broader conflict objectives. The next move belongs to Trump, who was still weighing whether to turn a tentative opening into an agreement, or walk away if it falls short of his line.
