DUBAI — Iran said on Fridaythat it had not reached a final decision on a deal to end the Middle East conflict, despite US President Donald Trump claiming an agreement could be signed in days..Trump claimed on Thursday the United States has “ended the war with Iran,” after announcing a “great settlement” that he said would resolve the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz but Iran countered that it had not reached a final decision on an agreement.Trump said Vice President JD Vance could attend a signing ceremony in Europe in the coming days.Despite Trump’s pronouncement, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson has said the country did not yet reach a final decision on any agreement, according to state media. Esmaeil Baghaei said reports of a deal were “merely speculation.”The deal, if confirmed, would be the most significant diplomatic breakthrough yet to end the three-month-old war, which has killed thousands and sent global energy prices sharply higher.Baghaei said, according to Iranian media, large parts of the text under negotiation have been finalized but Iran would not compromise on its red lines.Baghaei said Qatar and Pakistan were “active as mediators,” but added that “US actions are affecting the diplomatic process.”“From the beginning, the status of the negotiations was clear to us, and a large portion of the text had already been finalized. However, the Americans kept changing their positions,” Baghaei said, according to IRNA news agency.He added that Iran had “proven that it does not compromise on what it has defined as its red lines.”“So far, Iran has not reached a final decision regarding any agreement,” he said.He also said the situation in the Strait of Hormuz had become “less secure because of US actions.”Earlier on Thursday, Trump said he was canceling the strikes against Iran that he had previewed hours earlier because “final points” of a deal with the country had been approved.“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.“We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran,” Trump told reporters at the White House.“The strait will officially open as soon as we sign, which could be soon, very soon, maybe over the weekend in Europe,” Trump said.When asked if Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has approved the deal, Trump said: “I understand the answer is yes.”Since mid-March, Trump has repeatedly claimed that a deal with Iran to end the war was close. The two sides have traded strikes this week, straining a ceasefire announced in April.Trump has repeatedly said that any peace deal must ensure Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon. Iran denies it is seeking such a weapon.Iran’s demands include the lifting of international sanctions, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets and recognition of its control of the Strait of Hormuz.“We have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the whole purpose of what we had to go through to get this. So it was a very big thing,” Trump said on Thursday.The war has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and hit the world economy by pushing up energy prices since the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28. Trump had earlier said that the United States would hit Iran “very hard tonight” and wanted eventually to take Iran’s oil infrastructure hub Kharg Island. The island handles 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports and seizing it would give the US the ability to severely disrupt Iran’s energy trade, placing enormous pressure on Tehran’s economy.The conflict has become a political headache for the White House, with polls showing Trump’s approval ratings sinking amid voter anger over high gasoline prices. Some Republicans have openly worried that the war’s unpopularity could cost them control of Congress in November’s midterm elections. Trump said on social media that the agreement had been approved by other countries in the region including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement released after the Israeli leader and Trump spoke that Israel was not a party to the memorandum of understanding with Iran.In a readout of the call from the prime minister’s office, Netanyahu “expressed his appreciation” to Trump for his commitment that a final agreement with Iran would remove Tehran’s enriched uranium, dismantle its nuclear infrastructure, limit its missile production and halt its support for regional proxies.Tehran had been demanding an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, where fighting has continued in a parallel war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
