‘Back and forth’ delays Iran deal, White House says agreement still not sealed: Report

The White House believes a possible agreement with Iran to end the ongoing conflict could still take several days, with senior US officials warning that negotiations remain incomplete and the deal could still collapse, according to reports by Axios and Iranian media outlets.A senior US official told Axios that the proposed agreement still requires approval from Iran’s leadership, including Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, and acknowledged that negotiations remain fluid.“We are in a very good place — but there are ways in which the deal can be undermined,” the official said.The remarks signal a more cautious tone from the administration of US President Donald Trump, a day after Trump said an agreement with Tehran could be announced “shortly”.According to Axios, senior Trump administration officials said there was still “back and forth on specific details” between Washington and Tehran. “Some words we care about, Some words they care about,” the official said, adding that the “slow and opaque” nature of Iran’s decision-making system could delay the agreement by several more days.“Our understanding is that the Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has endorsed the broad template of the deal. Whether this becomes an agreement is still an open question,” the official added.Trump on Sunday said he had instructed American negotiators “not to rush into a deal” with Iran, writing on Truth Social that “both sides must take their time and get it right.” He also said the US naval blockade would “remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.”The proposed agreement is aimed at preventing a wider regional escalation and easing pressure on global oil supplies by reopening the Strait of Hormuz. According to the US official, the draft framework would involve the US lifting its naval blockade in exchange for Iran reopening the strategic shipping route.The official also said Iran would “agree in principle to dispose” of its enriched uranium stockpile, although discussions continue over how that would be implemented. The Trump administration reportedly wants the final agreement to cover all of Iran’s nearly 2,000 kilograms of enriched uranium, not only the 450 kilograms enriched to near-weapons-grade levels.“We want to see a substantial commitment to forgo enrichment. We think we will get it. We feel good about where we are on the broad commitments regarding the enrichment issue,” the US official said.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday said Tehran was “ready to reassure the world that we are not seeking nuclear weapons” but stressed negotiators “will not compromise when it comes to our country's honor and dignity.”Iranian state media, meanwhile, accused the US of “creating obstacles” in the negotiations, raising fresh doubts over the prospects of a breakthrough.The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Washington was still refusing to accept certain clauses of a proposed memorandum of understanding (MoU), including the release of Iran’s frozen assets. Citing information obtained by its reporter, Tasnim said there remained a possibility that the MoU could still be cancelled.The report added that Tehran had insisted it would not retreat from its “red lines” in safeguarding the rights of the Iranian people.Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told state-run IRIB TV on Saturday that Tehran and Washington were working to finalise a 14-clause MoU focused on ending the war.“At this stage, our focus is on ending the imposed war,” Baghaei said. “Our intention has been to firstly agree on an MoU consisting of 14 clauses.”He added that Tehran and Washington were aiming to reach a final agreement within “30 to 60 days”. According to Baghaei, major issues under discussion include “the cessation of US maritime attacks, or naval blockade as they themselves call it, and other issues pertaining to the release of Iranian frozen assets.”The report also said the structure of the proposed agreement would link sanctions relief to Iran’s nuclear concessions. “No dust, no dollars. If no highly enriched uranium is given [up], they will get no relief,” the US official said. “The more they do, the more they get. There will be no immediate unfreezing of funds.”The emerging agreement has also triggered criticism from some Republican lawmakers and conservative commentators in the US, with critics comparing it to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal signed during former President Barack Obama’s administration.Trump rejected those comparisons, calling the Obama-era agreement “one of the worst deals ever made” and insisting his current negotiations with Iran are “THE EXACT OPPOSITE.”The Axios report added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his team have remained closely involved in the discussions. “We don't want them to be blindsided. The coordination has been quite close,” the US official said.However, Israeli officials quoted by Axios said Netanyahu remained sceptical that Iran’s supreme leader would ultimately approve the deal. In a phone call with Trump on Saturday, Netanyahu reportedly said Israel would “preserve its freedom of action against threats on all fronts, including Lebanon.”Netanyahu later said any final agreement with Iran “must eliminate the nuclear danger … dismantling Iran's nuclear enrichment sites and removing its enriched nuclear material from its territory.”