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WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD, May 24 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he had told his representatives not to rush into any deal with Iran, appearing to dampen hopes of an imminent breakthrough in the three-month-old war that had been raised by both sides a day earlier.
The U.S. blockade on Iranian ships on the Strait of Hormuz would “remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed”, Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Negotiations were progressing, and the U.S. relationship with Iran had become more professional and productive, he said. But he added, “Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!”
A day earlier, Trump said Washington and Iran had “largely negotiated” a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which before the conflict carried one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
It was not clear whether the agreement he was referring to on Sunday was the initial memorandum of understanding that had been under discussion, or a much more challenging, broad peace settlement, likely to take much longer.
The two sides remain at odds over numerous difficult issues, such as Iran’s nuclear ambitions and Tehran’s demands for the lifting of sanctions and the release of tens of billions of dollars of Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks.
Various media in the U.S. and Iran had said the memorandum setting out a framework for ending months of fighting would, if concluded, lift a U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping and reopen the waterway, which Iran has shut with threats to attack shipping.
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