White House rejects Iranian report on draft US deal as ‘complete fabrication’
WASHINGTON : The White House on Wednesday blasted an Iranian state television report about a framework deal with the United States to end the West Asia war as a “complete fabrication.”
The Iranian report cited a draft outline of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that it said included a US commitment to lift the naval blockade on Iran and withdraw its forces from the Gulf region.
“This report from Iranian controlled media is not true and the MOU they ‘released’ is a complete fabrication. Nobody should believe what Iranian state media is putting out. FACTS MATTER,” the White House said on X as it lashed out at US media for reporting the Iranian claims.
Meanwhile, Trump said Iran was keen to reach an agreement, but suggested progress in the talks remained insufficient.“They want very much to make a deal. So far, they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be — either that or we’ll have to just finish the job,” he said.
“They’re negotiating on fumes, but we’ll see what happens,” Trump added. Earlier, Iran’s state television claimed that Tehran had obtained an initial unofficial framework for a potential memorandum of understanding with the United States aimed at ending months of conflict and restoring stability in the Gulf region.
According to the reported framework, Iran would restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month, while the United States would withdraw military forces from Iran’s vicinity and lift a naval blockade imposed during the conflict.
State TV said the proposed arrangement would exclude military vessels and envisages Iran managing commercial ship traffic through the strategic waterway in coordination with Oman.
However, the broadcaster stressed that the framework had not yet been finalised and Tehran would take no action without “tangible verification” of commitments. It also said that if a final agreement is reached within 60 days, the deal could potentially be endorsed as a binding United Nations Security Council resolution.
The emerging US-Iran MoU stems from indirect talks launched after the war that began in February, with Pakistan playing a central mediating role between Tehran and Washington. Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that a return to war with the United States was unlikely, but warned the Islamic republic stood ready to respond to any attack.
The statement came a day after Iran accused the US of breaching the ceasefire in place since April, and warned it was prepared to retaliate following the most serious strikes since the truce took effect.
In Lebanon, where a truce has done little to halt the violence in Israel’s war with Hezbollah, Israeli strikes killed 31 people on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The West Asia war erupted in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, spreading swiftly across multiple fronts and engulfing the region, while throwing global energy markets into chaos.
Mohammad Akbarzadeh, deputy political chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, said that while the likelihood of returning to “war is low because of the enemy’s weakness, the armed forces are lying in wait with full magazines”.
He went on to warn that the military would turn the area along Iran’s coastline “into a graveyard for aggressors”, in quotes carried by the Tasnim news agency. Tehran’s intelligence ministry, meanwhile, said that the US and Israel were still seeking to overthrow the Islamic republic and partition Iran.
The ministry said it had evidence that they would smuggle “various weapons, ammunition and illegal communication tools, especially Starlink” satellite internet devices, into Iran to foment religious and ethnic divisions and carry out sabotage missions.
Source : First Post
