President Donald Trump has sought significant changes to a proposed peace agreement aimed at ending the war with Iran, sending a revised framework back to Tehran for review and potentially delaying a final deal, according to officials familiar with the negotiations.
The president pushed for tougher terms in the memorandum of understanding that had been “largely negotiated,” though the exact nature of the changes was not immediately disclosed. A senior U.S. official said Trump was informed it could take three days for Iran to respond, noting negotiators are “literally in caves, and they’re not using email”.
The revised U.S. proposal centers on three core demands Trump has repeatedly outlined that Iran must commit that it will never develop nuclear weapons and agree to dispose of its enriched uranium stockpile under a mutually agreed mechanism.
Also, Iran must immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping lane handling roughly 20% of global oil supplies, and restore maritime traffic to pre-war conditions within 30 days. Trump posted that the emerging agreement would reopen the strait, though Iran’s Fars news agency disputed that claim as “inconsistent with reality”.
The newest draft incorporates a 60-day cessation of hostilities and an end to military operations “on every front,” including Lebanon.
Trump also wants to reinforce provisions he considers critical related to Iran’s nuclear material. “The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons,” he said during a broadcast interview on Fox News.
The proposed deal had been awaiting Trump’s approval, but he did not sign off following a White House Situation Room meeting on Friday. Axios reported that Trump demanded multiple revisions during the session and subsequently pushed for additional modifications.
A White House official validated that stance that “President Trump will only make a deal that is good for America and satisfies his red lines”.
The U.S. president said he was in “no hurry” to finalize a pact. “There will be a deal. The imminence of it, we’ll see. We’re willing to wait so the president gets what he asks for. It could be a week. It could be less. It could be more,” a senior administration official told Axios.
Iran has put forward its own 14-point proposal delivered via Pakistan, calling for a complete end to the war within 30 days, lifting of sanctions, release of frozen assets, reparations, and a new mechanism governing the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran’s plan postpones negotiations on its nuclear programme, a key U.S. demand, creating a direct clash over priorities.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state media there was “no final agreement” yet and said Iran “said goodbye to the language of ‘must’ 47 years ago”. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it was not conducting nuclear negotiations. Fars news agency also rebutted several elements of Trump’s characterization of the deal, calling his remarks “a mixture of truth and lies”.
The war began after the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28. Since then, Iran effectively closed the Hormuz waterway and attacked Israel, U.S. military bases, and energy infrastructure around the Gulf.
Diplomatic efforts have intensified through backchannel negotiations, with Pakistan mediating talks. A first round of talks in Islamabad on April 11-12 lasted 21 hours but ended without agreement.
If the diplomatic process progresses, the arrangement could grant Iran access to billions of dollars in frozen funds via the easing of economic sanctions. However, Trump has cast doubt on Iran’s proposal, saying Tehran has “not yet paid a big enough price” and warning fresh military strikes remain an option if Iran “misbehaves”.
Shipping companies have said they would require clarifications, including about the risk of mines, before vessels moved through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. Navy warned that the mine threat in parts of the waterway was not fully understood.
“Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
