Trump Says No Rush on Iran Deal After Earlier Hinting It Was Close.

President Donald Trump has told his negotiators not to rush into a deal with Iran, even though just a day earlier he’d suggested an agreement was nearly done.

The deal reportedly includes a 60-day extension of the current ceasefire, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and setting up more talks about Iran’s nuclear program.

On social media, Trump described the negotiations as “constructive” but said “both sides must take their time and get it right.” That followed his Saturday comment that a deal had been “largely negotiated,” which got people guessing an announcement might be just around the corner.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, gave mixed signals over the weekend, saying the two sides were “both very close and very far” from an agreement.

According to U.S. media, this isn’t a final deal. The trickiest issues like how and when sanctions on Iran would be lifted, the release of frozen Iranian funds, and Washington’s demands for Iran to scale back its nuclear ambitions would be left for later talks.

On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Delhi that there’s “a pretty solid thing on the table” regarding reopening the strait and entering “a very real, significant, time limited negotiation on the nuclear matter.”

Not everyone in the Republican Party is happy. Senator Ted Cruz called the potential deal “a disastrous mistake,” and Senator Roger Wicker, who leads the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned that a 60-day ceasefire would make “everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury… for naught.” But Representative Mike Lawler, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, praised the administration for forcing “the remnants of this regime into a real negotiation.”

The backdrop is intense. On February 28, the U.S. and Israel launched major strikes on Iran, setting off conflict across the Middle East. Iran hit back by attacking Israel and U.S. allied Gulf states, and effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz where about 20% of the world’s oil and LNG passes through sending global oil prices soaring.

A short ceasefire was agreed in early April, but Trump then imposed a blockade on Iranian ports, which he says will stay “in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.”

On Sunday, Trump reiterated on Truth Social that Iran “must understand” it cannot develop a nuclear weapon. Iran has long said its nuclear program is peaceful. Some U.S. media reports suggest the deal might include Iran eventually handing over its highly enriched uranium. Before the war, Iran had roughly 440kg of uranium enriched to 60% purity just a short step from weapons-grade 90%.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told state TV that Tehran is ready “to assure the world that we are not after a nuclear weapon.”

Rubio said “significant” but not final progress had been made, hinting that talks over the last 48 hours could lead to a “completely open strait… without tolls.”

Baghaei told state TV on Saturday that Iran is finalizing a “memorandum of understanding,” which would allow more talks on a “final agreement.” Trump also called it a memorandum of understanding in his social media post.

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who’s been mediating, said recent negotiations give “grounds for optimism” that a positive outcome is “within reach.”