Iran has agreed to end nuclear weapon development, says Trump

US President Donald Trump has said his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran's from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. Photo by Kent NISHIMURA /AFP

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U.S. President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons, as reports emerged he had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Tehran.

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Any tweaks to the proposal could prolong even further an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and open the Strait of Hormuz maritime route after weeks of efforts to secure a deal despite fractious rhetoric and the occasional flare-up of armed conflict.

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The New York Times and Axios media outlets reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a new framework to be considered by Iran with “tougher” terms, though it was not immediately clear what that entailed.

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Trump has said his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and reopening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

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“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, in an interview broadcast on her Fox News program on Saturday night.

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But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions and the parties appeared far apart on their key priorities.

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Iran has said it requires the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before it moves to substantive talks on issues such as its nuclear program and called earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium — a precursor for nuclear weapons — would be destroyed “baseless,” according to Iranian media.

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Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon must be included 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 Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

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After Trump and U.S. officials earlier said they were on the brink of striking a deal, he struck a less urgent tone and hinted at renewed military action in the Fox interview.

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“I’m in no hurry,” 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 in a different way.”

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Flare ups

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That echoed comments from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who said at a defence summit in Asia on Saturday that Washington was “more than capable” of restarting the war if necessary.

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Though daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf have stopped since Tehran and Washington struck a temporary ceasefire in April followed by historic talks hosted by Pakistan, bursts of armed conflict have continued.

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had shot down a U.S. military drone “about to enter Iranian territorial waters to conduct hostile operations”, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported, an incident that has not been confirmed by the United States.

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Earlier in the week, the worst fighting since the fragile ceasefire broke out when U.S. forces carried out strikes on the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, countered by retaliatory fire from Iran.