Iran’s chief negotiator said Sunday that Tehran does not trust the U.S. and will not accept any agreement unless it fully secures Iranian rights, as negotiations continue over a potential deal to end the conflict, state media reported.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's remarks came as reports emerged that President Donald Trump had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran and underlined the rift that the parties still need to close.
Any further tweaks to the draft could further delay an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of fraught negotiations marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence.
Iran was already in negotiations with the United States about the fate of its nuclear program in February, when the U.S. and Israel launched air and missile strikes that killed much of the Islamic Republic's senior leadership.
And, while Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear program is for purely civilian ends, the United States and its Western allies have long suspected it aims to develop a weapon.
Nuclear guarantees
The New York Times and Axios reported Saturday that Trump had sent back a "tougher" new framework to be considered by Iran, though details remain unclear.
Trump has said his priorities include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and reopening the Hormuz shipping lane, over which Iran has sought to impose control since the war began.
"The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They've agreed to that, and it was very interesting," he told his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, in an interview on her Fox News show.
But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump's assertions and the sides remain far apart on key issues.
"We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld," Ghalibaf said, in a video broadcast on state television.
According to the Tasnim news agency, "exchanges between Iran and the United States regarding the text of a possible memorandum of understanding are ongoing, with both parties regularly proposing amendments.
"No agreement has yet been finalised, and any agreement may be rejected," it said.
Iran has said it needs the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear program, dismissing earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium stockpile would be destroyed as "baseless," according to Iranian media.
Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon be included in any deal, despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a "scorched-earth policy" as it expands operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Flare-ups
Though daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf halted after Tehran and Washington struck a temporary cease-fire in April and talks mediated by Pakistan, sporadic fighting has continued.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards had shot down a U.S. military drone "about to enter Iranian territorial waters," Iran's state broadcaster IRIB reported, though Washington has not confirmed the incident.
Earlier this week, the worst fighting since the ceasefire erupted when U.S. forces struck the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, prompting retaliatory fire from Iran.
Nevertheless, diplomacy has continued with Trump under pressure to secure a deal that would lift competing U.S. and Iranian blockades around the Strait of Hormuz that have strangled a vital route for global oil supplies.
After Trump said Iran would charge "no tolls" on ships passing through the strait under any deal, Iranian news agency Fars cited sources saying "no such clause" existed.
Iran's ISNA news agency Saturday quoted lawmaker Alireza Salimi as saying a plan "to implement Iran's management and sovereignty" over the strait – which includes imposing "administrative fees" for navigation – would soon go before parliament.