CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned senior American officials that US intelligence agencies had gathered evidence that raises doubts about Iran’s willingness to make concessions regarding its nuclear program, according to an Axios report citing three sources familiar with the matter on Tuesday.
According to Axios, US President Donald Trump was among the officials warned in a series of meetings leading up to Trump's announcement of a deal between Washington and Tehran.
Trump and his advisors discussed the gathered intelligence, which reportedly shows that internal discussions among Iranian officials regarding the agreement were inconsistent with what Tehran had told the US and mediators, two of the sources told Axios.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared Ratcliffe’s concerns and raised questions about the memorandum of understanding during the meetings.
Ratcliff and Rubio, according to the sources, said that based on the intelligence, they doubted Iran would agree to the US’s nuclear demands.
One source told Axios that "the intelligence reflects that the Iranian intentions are not in line with their commitments under the deal.”
US Vice President JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, on the other hand, reportedly advocated for the deal.
White House official says deal meets all US redlines
One White House official assured that the deal “meets all of the redlines that the administration has long articulated by ensuring that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon,” when Axios reached out to ask questions regarding the report.
The official stated that Trump listened to all opinions, but noted that “everyone understands he is the final decision-maker” on the matter.
While the full text of the 14-point agreement has not been published yet, a source familiar with the terms told Axios that Iran will get more out of the memorandum than what they give up, unless they sign a nuclear deal that fully meets US demands.
According to the source, the text details that Tehran and Washington will commit to "resolve the disposition of stockpiled enriched material" in addition to discussing future enrichment and “other mutually agreed matters related to Iran's nuclear needs based on a satisfactory framework being agreed upon in the final deal."