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President Donald Trump said on June 16 that negotiations with Iran could conclude sooner than the 60-day timetable outlined in the jointly agreed on memorandum of understanding due to be formally signed on Friday, though acknowledging that the process would likely take longer.
Speaking to reporters during the G7 summit in France, Trump said the timeline remained flexible.
“It could go faster, could take longer, too. But it could go faster,” he said.
The MOU is intended to provide a framework for further negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Once formally signed, it will trigger a 60-day period of talks focused on the more outstanding unresolved issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.
Trump also expressed optimism about developments in the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping traffic has begun to recover following months of disruption.
“Good things are happening,” he said.
“The ships are starting to move now, we’re going to have it fully opened by Friday. The ships are starting to move nicely, oil is starting to go, and the prices are coming down rapidly. Stock market is going up rapidly, a lot of good things are happening.”
As per CBS News, while shipping data shows that a small number of tankers have already resumed transiting the waterway in recent days, including at least one Iranian vessel under US sanctions, most major shipping corporations have expressed heavy skepticism and avoided traversing the perilous waterway.
Furthermore, industry groups have said they are still waiting for greater clarity on the terms of the US-Iran agreement before restoring normal operations through the strategic route.
Trump also said he intends to publicly release the text of the memorandum within days and suggested he would personally present its contents.
“I will actually, I’ll not only release it, I’ll probably have a press conference and read it to you word by word so that the press covers it accurately,” he said.
Describing the agreement as a significant document, Trump compared it with the 2015 nuclear deal reached under former President Barack Obama which he called a “horrible” one.
“Unlike Obama, who could have destroyed the Middle East with the horrible JCPOA, it is the worst agreement. That was a road to a nuclear weapon. Mine is a wall against a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Trump said he had delayed publication of the text as he wants it to be formally ratified first.
“I’d like to get a formal setting first before we do it,” he said.
Furthermore, he added that he would like Congress to approve the agreement, although he stopped short of confirming whether it would be formally submitted for a vote. “I mean, who wouldn’t approve it?” he said.
US officials have repeatedly described the memorandum as an initial framework rather than a final settlement. The agreement is expected to extend the ceasefire, facilitate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and launch detailed negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme and other outstanding issues.
