8 days ago

Aoife Walshand

Emma Rossiter

US President Donald Trump has held a meeting with top aides to make a "final determination" about a framework for extending the ceasefire with Iran, but it concluded without clarity on the next steps.

Posting on Truth Social beforehand, Trump said Iran must agree to never have a nuclear weapon or bomb, that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened for "unrestricted shipping traffic, in both directions", and that any mines in the strait be "terminated".

An adviser to Iran's supreme leader on Saturday accused Trump of "betraying diplomacy" by making what he described as excessive demands.

Iran says it is not negotiating on its nuclear programme - insisting it is wholly for peaceful purposes.

On Thursday, the two countries had agreed a framework of a deal - known as a memorandum of understanding - pending the approval of Trump and Iran's leadership, according to US officials.

The deal would reportedly extend the current ceasefire for 60 days and launch talks on the future of Iran's nuclear programme.

"President Trump will only make a deal that is good for America and satisfies his red lines. Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon," a White House official told CBS, the BBC's US news partner.

Since the ceasefire came into effect on 8 April, Trump has repeatedly suggested that the US and Iran were close to a deal and that negotiations were progressing, but so far there have been no substantive results.

Trump wrote on social media before the meeting of aides on Friday that he was prepared to lift the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, allowing ships caught in the waterway to "start the process of 'heading home!'"

He also insisted that Iran allow the US to remove and destroy its enriched uranium.

"No money will be exchanged, until further notice," he said. "Other items, of far less importance, have been agreed to."

A White House official confirmed to the BBC that the meeting - which was held in the White House's Situation Room, used for dealing with major crises - had concluded late on Friday. The official provided no further details.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday that the blockade on Iranian shipping remained in place. It said Iranian vessels were still being prevented from crossing the blockade line and continued to receive warnings from US forces.

Reacting to Trump's latest remarks, Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, wrote on X: "As predicted, the President of the United States is betraying diplomacy for the third time.

"By continuing the naval blockade and making excessive demands in negotiations, he has once again proven that he is not inclined toward negotiation and is pursuing other objectives."

Iran's Fars news agency earlier cited informed sources as saying that Trump's latest comments were a "mixture of truth and lies".

There was no provision to destroy nuclear materials in the memorandum of understanding, the agency reported.

Meanwhile, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told state TV it was "focused on ending the war, and there are no negotiations on the nuclear issue".

The US has long demanded that Iran stop producing highly enriched uranium and dispose of its existing stockpile, which in theory could be used to create nuclear weapons.

Iran says its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and denies it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

The possibility of the US being able to "recommence" strikes in Iran was floated by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Speaking at a security summit in Singapore, he said: "Our stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there and around the globe, because of how we balance exquisite and more plentiful munitions."

"So we're in a very good place," he added.

The US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on 28 February. Iran responded by attacking Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf, and effectively closed the strait, which has sent global oil prices soaring. Normally, about 20% of the world's energy supplies are shipped through the strait.

On Thursday, US Vice-President JD Vance said negotiators were "going back and forth on a couple of language points", including the "question of enrichment".

"We're not there yet, but we're very close and we're going to keep on working at it," he said.

Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said earlier on Friday that it had "no trust in guarantees or words", only actions.

"No action will be taken before the other side acts," he said in a social media post. "The winner of any agreement is the one who is better prepared for war the day after."

Both Iran and the US have accused each other of violating the ceasefire in recent days.

On Thursday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted a US air base in Kuwait that had been "the source" of earlier strikes on Bandar Abbas, a strategic Iranian port city near the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command said the attack on Kuwait was an "egregious ceasefire violation".