Foreign News
Hard to say if or when Trump will sign MoU with Iran — Vance
US Vice President JD Vance has told reporters that Washington was “not there yet” with Iran on an agreement but that the parties were close, adding that the US was in a position where it could substantially set back Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The United States and Iran reached an agreement on Thursday to extend their ceasefire and lift restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, pending US President Donald Trump’s approval, many US and Middle East media outlets reported.
Vance said there were a couple of sticking points in talks with Tehran concerning its enriched uranium stockpile and the question of enrichment.
“It’s hard to say exactly when or if the president is going to sign the MOU. We’re going back and forth on a couple of language points. We’ve made a lot of progress here,” Vance said.
“I can’t guarantee that we’re going to get there, but right now I feel pretty good about it,” said Vance, who has played a key role in the negotiations.
Vance said the Iranians were negotiating in “at least so far in good faith” and both sides wanted to reopen the Straits of Hormuz — but there was still disagreement on Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.
“There are a couple of issues on the nuclear stuff, the highly enriched stockpile, and also the question of enrichment,“ Vance said.
“Hopefully, we’ll continue to make progress and the president will be in a position where he can endorse the agreement, but obviously that’s still TBD,” meaning to be determined, he added.
Trump and his team said from the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran that one of the prime reasons they undertook it was to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.
But Vance, touting what he said the war had accomplished, told reporters that, “We’re in a position where we could substantially set back their nuclear programme, not just during the term of this president but over the long term.”
Memorandum of Understanding
