Qatar and Pakistan remain involved in mediation efforts, but Tehran says changing US positions and security concerns in the Strait of Hormuz continue to complicate negotiations.
Iran Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei | Pic source: en.mfa.gov.ir
Iran on Friday dismissed “speculation” that it had sealed an agreement with the United States, publicly distancing itself from US President Donald Trump’s claim that a breakthrough deal was on the verge of completion.
The remarks expose a sharp gap between Washington’s optimistic messaging and Tehran’s assessment of the negotiations, raising fresh questions over whether months of diplomatic efforts have actually produced a mutually accepted agreement.
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Speaking to Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said reports suggesting a finalised deal were premature and insisted that Tehran had yet to take a final call on any agreement.
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“From the beginning, the status of the negotiations was clear to us, and a large portion of the text had already been finalised. However, the Americans kept changing their positions,” Baghaei was quoted as saying by IRNA.
He said Iran remained committed to its stated positions during the talks and would not cross what it considers its “red lines”.
“So far, Iran has not reached a final decision regarding any agreement,” Baghaei said.
Baghaei said Qatar and Pakistan had remained actively involved in facilitating dialogue between Tehran and Washington. However, he argued that recent actions by the United States had complicated the diplomatic process.
The Iranian spokesperson also expressed concern over security conditions in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the strategic waterway had become “less secure because of US actions”.
Baghaei’s comments came hours after Trump announced what he described as a major breakthrough with Iran and suggested that formal approval of the agreement could happen within days.
Addressing reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said a “great settlement” had been reached and that only final documentation remained.
“We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, and we’re going to be subject to finalisation of documents. We should get done over the next few days. We’ll probably have a signing, maybe in Europe,” Trump said.
He added that the Strait of Hormuz would officially reopen once the agreement was signed and indicated that Vice President JD Vance could attend a possible signing ceremony in Europe on his behalf.
Trump also said the proposed arrangement would ensure that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.
“Most importantly, 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,” he said.
According to Trump, the documents are already in “pretty final shape”, and the process could be completed quickly.
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