Trump says agreement with Iran approved by all parties involved, including Israel, cancels strikes

US President Donald Trump announced that he had canceled scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran on Thursday night, after a deal with Iran had been agreed upon.

The deal, also known as a memorandum of understanding (MOU), was approved "both in concept and great detail" by all involved parties, including the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and multiple other Middle Eastern countries, Trump wrote.

The MOU would extend the ceasefire for 60 days, including in Lebanon, during which time nuclear negotiations would be held, according to an Axios report. The text reportedly includes a framework for addressing Iran's enriched uranium stockpile.
 

The blockade will remain in place until the deal is finalized, Trump said, adding that a military operation against Iran's Kharg Island is off the table for now.

No date was given for the signing, but Trump said it could happen this weekend in Europe, with US Vice President JD Vance set to attend.

Notably, Israeli sources told Channel 12 that Israel does not recognize reaching an agreement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Trump on Thursday night, as Trump confirmed in comments to the press. Reportedly, Trump's announcement took Netanyahu by surprise, according to CNN.

However, the Prime Minister's office said that Netanyahu expressed his appreciation for Trump's commitment to the ceasefire agreement with Iran, which "will include the removal of enriched nuclear material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and an end to Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region."

Israel is not part of the US's memorandum of understanding with Iran.

IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency wrote that Trump had announced an imminent deal 38 times in the last two months, and that until Iran announces an agreement, any Trump statement should be considered similarly to the past ones.

Iran's Fars News Agency cited a source as saying Iran had not yet agreed to any memorandum of understanding with the US.

However, it then wrote that there is a high probability that the Iranian leadership will approve the agreement.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and US President Donald Trump held a phone call on Thursday in which they reviewed the results of US-Iran consultations that had led to progress on understandings proposed within a negotiating track, the Qatari Emiri Diwan said.

Trump told the emir that efforts were continuing to complete final procedures before announcing arrangements to sign an agreement, the Diwan added in a statement.

Negotiations between the US and Iran progressed late Wednesday night as Qatari envoy Ali Al-Thawadi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi worked to resolve three key issues that impeded previous proposals, Axios reported on Thursday night.

The issues included the mechanism for releasing frozen Iranian assets, which Axios wrote was the primary issue for the Iranians, arrangements for reopening the Strait of Hormuz during the 60-day ceasefire period, and how negotiations over Iran's nuclear program will be conducted during that period, according to the report.

Sources told Axios that Iranian officials told several countries on Thursday that while an agreement had been approved in principle, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had yet to give final approval.

Trump said during a press briefing on Thursday that he believed Khamenei had approved a deal with the US that would trigger the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of a US blockade on Iranian ports.

When asked by a reporter at the White House whether Khamenei had approved the deal, Trump said: "I understand the answer is yes."

Trump described the deal as "a very strong memorandum of understanding," adding it was "a little conceptual, but it's something that's going to get done."

Notably, only neutralizing the 60% enriched uranium and a 15- to 20-year freeze on enrichment have been discussed to date.

According to Trump, "Iran expressed a high level of enthusiasm for getting it [the ceasefire agreement] done." The US president claimed that Iran had "no navy, air force, or weapons of detection. They had nothing, and so there wasn't a thing they could have done about it."

"We won this war militarily very early on," he said, claiming that the only thing the US didn't win was the "fake news."

"Iran could've waved the white flag of surrender and the fake news would say they did wonderfully, but they didnt do wonderfully," he told reporters at the White House.

Additionally, Trump said, "It’s a great deal. You know why it’s a great deal? Because they will never have a nuclear weapon."

Regarding the Strait of Hormuz, Trump asserted that it will "open immediately, maybe Saturday or Monday." He also claimed that the strait has been open for months already. "You just didn't know about it, because the information wasn't open to reporters," he said, adding that many US ships and hundreds of millions of barrels of oil crossed the strait.

"We go to wars, and we always end up blessing a lot of people," the US president said, referencing US intervention in Venezuela as well as the war in Iran.

Iran, however, has not yet made a final decision on a possible agreement with the US and will not compromise on its "red lines" in negotiations, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Thursday, according to Iran's IRNA ​news agency.

Baghaei said reports regarding a time and place of signing the agreement remained speculative and that nothing had been finalized. He added that a large part of the negotiating text had been finalized, but the US repeatedly changed its positions during the talks.

Trump earlier announced that the US would be striking Iran in a post on Truth Social on Thursday afternoon.

"At some point in the not-too-distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island and other oil infrastructure points and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets," he added.

Trump said that his preference "has always been" to take Kharg Island, but that he wasn't sure if "America has the stomach for it," in a call with Fox also on Thursday. 

Trump also addressed difficulties with negotiations with Iran, specifying that at one point, Iran would not agree not to buy as well as to not develop nuclear weapons, until they were convinced a day later.

Trump told Fox that the Kurds had let the US down after weapons were delivered to be distributed to the Iranian people during the January protests that predated the war. 

When asked for his message to the Iranian people, Trump said that they were scared due to the arms disparity between the IRGC and unarmed protesters.

"We sent weapons and the Kurds let us down," Trump said, adding that he had initially been against the plan to send the weapons to the Kurds, believing they would keep them instead of distributing them.

Notably, The Jerusalem Post reported that early on in the war, Israel had hoped to utilize the Iraqi and Iranian Kurds, who had received weapons from both the CIA and the Mossad, but that Trump had vetoed the operation. 

Iranian Defense Ministry spokesperson Reza Taleinik said that Iran's armed forces were at the highest level of readiness, and that Iran's enemies must accept a ceasefire, on Thursday.

“Any crossing of the Islamic Republic’s red lines by the enemy will face a decisive, regret-inducing and harsh punitive response,” Taleinik said.

Iran's top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said on Thursday the United States would receive a more severe response than before if it attacks Iran.

"Considering recent US threats against Iran's oil infrastructure, either oil and gas exports are for everyone, or they will be available for no one," the command said in a statement carried by state media, adding the war would become more widespread and extensive, causing insecurity in the region.