President Trump cancelled planned strikes on Iran and said a peace deal ending the 105-day Gulf war could be signed within days, as Iranian officials confirmed Friday that negotiators are in the final stages of drafting a memorandum of understanding — while cautioning that no agreement has been reached until it is signed.
'Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,' Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. 'The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized — Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly.'
Speaking later in the Oval Office, Trump said the two sides 'should get done over the next few days. We're going to have a signing, maybe in Europe, and it's a great thing.' Asked whether the agreement covered Iran's nuclear program, he answered: 'yes, conceptually.'
Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Friday that a deal has 'never been closer,' describing a two-stage process: a memorandum of understanding that halts the fighting on all fronts — including Israel's offensive in Lebanon — followed by negotiations on the nuclear program, sanctions relief, the unfreezing of Iranian assets and the administration of the Strait of Hormuz. Parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf struck a warier note: 'Commitments made must be commitments kept. No ifs, no buts, no excuses.'
Iran's state-affiliated Mehr news agency, citing an unnamed official, reported that the draft memorandum includes an Iranian commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, a permanent halt to the war, a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days, and a 60-day window to negotiate a final nuclear agreement. Trump has disputed the accuracy of leaked terms, and a senior US official said the deal is 'not quite at the finish line yet, but we are very close' — adding that frozen assets would be released only as Iran complies.
The whiplash has been characteristic of the week. Hours before announcing the cancellation, Trump posted that the US would attack Iran 'VERY HARD TONIGHT' and floated seizing Kharg Island, the terminal that handles most of Iran's oil exports — 'My preference has always been (to) take Kharg Island,' he told Fox News, before conceding, 'But I don't know that America has the stomach.'
After more than three months of war, Iran has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway carrying about 20 percent of the world's energy supply. A volatile ceasefire has technically been in place since April 8, but both sides resumed striking each other's targets this week before the latest diplomatic turn.
Markets treated the announcements as the closest thing yet to an endgame: oil fell to two-month lows on Friday and equities extended a global rally. The test now is whether the weekend produces an actual signature — something three previous rounds of 'imminent deal' rhetoric have failed to deliver.