President Trump has sent back an amended peace plan to Iran adding tougher language for Tehran’s nuclear commitments and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to reports.
The president made it clear during a Situation Room meeting with his advisers Friday that he wants to close a deal only if it meets his demands for Iran to abandon any ambition of achieving a nuclear weapon, with the issue being key to the amendments added after the session, Axios reported.
Trump is demanding that the terms of the deal be exact on how and when Iran will surrender its nearly 1,000 pounds of enriched uranium to the US, a senior administration official told the outlet.
The so-called memorandum of understanding dictates no specific concessions about how Iran will commit to its promise of not pursuing an atomic weapon — which Tehran has repeatedly claimed was never the goal of its nuclear program.
Instead, the memo reportedly states that a 60-day window of negotiations would take place during the cease-fire along with talks on sanctions relief from the US.
There is still a clear disagreement on whether money will be exchanged as part of Iran giving up its uranium, a condition Tehran insists must be included.
During Friday’s Situation Room meeting, Trump raised concern that any financial relief given to Iran as part of the deal cannot be compared to the “pallets of cash” that were at the center of criticism of the Obama-era nuclear deal the president withdrew from.
Iranian state media claimed that the Islamic republic would receive billions of dollars in frozen funds under the current deal, something the White House denies.
Along with clear wording on Iran’s nuclear program, Trump also sought to make changes on the wording around the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump has previously said the strait should remain free international waters, contradicting Iran’s claim that the passageway will now be under the Islamic regime’s control under a toll-booth system.
The full amendments Trump and his team made to the peace deal remain unclear.
As with all the previous proposals, it will likely take Iran a while to respond to the amended deal, a senior administration official told Axios.
“They’re literally in caves, and they’re not using email,” the official said of Tehran’s leadership.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
