Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump ended a two-hour Situation Room meeting on a proposed Iran agreement without announcing a decision, media reports said. Trump had earlier said he would make a “final determination” on a proposal aimed at extending a ceasefire with Iran, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and launching negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
However, after the meeting concluded, the White House offered no indication that a final decision had been reached. CNN reported that a White House official said only that the meeting had lasted about two hours and reiterated the administration’s position that Iran must never possess a nuclear weapon.
According to The Washington Post, the proposed memorandum of understanding would extend the current ceasefire for 60 days while Washington and Tehran negotiate details of a broader agreement, including the future of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile. Before the meeting, Trump outlined conditions he said Iran would need to meet, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz, removing mines from the waterway, agreeing never to develop a nuclear weapon and allowing the United States to remove or destroy highly enriched uranium.
Iran signalled that negotiations remain incomplete.
CNN reported that Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said contacts between Tehran and Washington were continuing but that a memorandum of understanding had not yet been finalised.
The New York Times separately reported that Iranian officials continue to object to several U.S. demands and that internal opposition from hard-line factions in Tehran remains a hurdle to any agreement. Despite the lack of a final announcement, officials on both sides appeared to suggest that negotiations were continuing.
