U.S. President Donald Trump is said to have not approved a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) for an end to hostilities with Iran. U.S. and Iranian officials had previously reached a tentative agreement on the draft, leaving only final approval by both sides, but Trump has effectively put on the brakes.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 30th, citing three anonymous officials, that Trump sent Iran a revised document with tougher terms than the tentative agreement. It is not yet clear what was changed.
According to the NYT, Trump has expressed concern about the inclusion of a clause lifting the freeze on Iranian funds. As he had strongly criticized former President Barack Obama for unfreezing frozen funds while pursuing the Iran nuclear deal, it is seen as reflecting political considerations.
An official told the NYT that Trump's rollout of a tougher new proposal may be intended to pressure Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, to quickly accept the existing framework.
Trump reportedly showed frustration that Iran was taking too long to respond to the U.S. proposal.
Earlier, on the 29th, he said, "We will hold a meeting in the White House Situation Room to make a final decision," but the roughly two-hour meeting ended without any announcement.
Before the Situation Room meeting, Trump reiterated on social media (SNS) that the core conditions of any agreement would include abandoning nuclear weapons development, fully opening the Strait of Hormuz without tolls, and, under U.S. leadership, locating and disposing of highly enriched uranium buried in Iran.
As uncertainty over the MOU signing drags on, tensions between the United States and Iran are rising again. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, the Asia Security Summit in Singapore, that "the U.S. military's maritime blockade against Iran remains strong, and we are prepared to resume military intervention if the end-of-hostilities talks collapse."
Indeed, on the same day, U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces fired a missile at a Gambia-flagged merchant vessel that had been sailing in the Gulf of Oman toward an Iranian port.