- A deal will be “announced soon”, Donald Trump said last night. Today, he says he’s told his team not to rush into a deal – and that time is on their side
Donald Trump says negotiations with Iran are “proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner” and that he instructed his representatives “not to rush into a deal”.
The US president adds that “time is on our side” and the US naval blockade on Iran will “remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified and signed”.
“Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!” Trump says.
“Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one.”
Trump reiterates that Iran cannot “develop or procure” a nuclear weapon or bomb, echoing the words from US secretary of state Marco Rubio this morning.
He also repeats claims that Barack Obama secured one of the worst deals with Iran – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – over its nuclear programme, saying it “was a direct path” to Tehran developing a nuclear weapon.
But Sky News military analyst Michael Clarke believes an agreement will most likely resemble what Barack Obama secured in 2015 – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and likely won’t be better.
That deal limited how much the Iranians could enrich uranium to 3.67%, which is the level for civilian use.
‘Wrecked by Trump’
“And they were being held to that,” Clarke said.
“The Iranians obviously thought they could wheedle their way out of it, but they hadn’t really wheedled their way out of it until the deal was wrecked by President Trump in 2018, when he left the deal.
“And then they started to enrich quite a lot.”
Up to that point, the deal was holding, Clarke said, and it was holding “better than the Iranians thought.”
“They thought they’d be able to get away with a lot more,” he said.
Iran won’t go for new offer
But the US offer last month was to prevent Iran from enriching any uranium for up to 20 years, Clarke said.
“I don’t think the Iranians would agree to no enrichment at all, because they regard the ability to enrich uranium as a symbol of their progress as a modern country,” he added.
“They say everybody else can enrich uranium – even very small countries are allowed a civilian nuclear program.
“We live in a world of climate change. We live in a world of transition to non-fossil fuels. Why wouldn’t you let us enrich uranium?”
And this is what Clarke thinks it boils down to: “I think that whatever that proposal was, however far it got, I’d be quite surprised if the Iranians would agree to no enrichment. I think we’ll end up – if there is a deal… it’s going to look pretty much like the 2015 deal.”
Because “that was the best deal available.”
US Correspondent James Matthews has dissected Trump’s latest Truth Social statement, saying “it seems clear the Americans are putting the brakes on” the deal.
“There are clearly last-minute complications,” he says, pointing out it’s not the first time this has happened. “One aspect of all of this will be the way the Iranians currently operate.
“But also, there is the issue of the distrust that underpins this whole process.”
As details of what the deal could include have trickled out, Matthews says some observers in the States “are calling it a [US] surrender.”
“Many are asking, ‘why on earth did the United States get involved in this conflict in the first place, given what it is taking out of it – no guarantees of any result of any of the aims achieved.’
“So it may be that Donald Trump has floated the idea of a deal, has looked at the kind of media coverage [it] is receiving here in his own backyard and has taken the view that maybe he needs to put on the brakes and look at it with a fresh eye.”
Written with reports from Sky News