Trump tightens terms on Iran war deal, US media say

President Donald Trump has sought to change several terms of a proposal to end the US-Israel war on Iran, according to media reports in the United States, as a finalised deal remains elusive.

The New York Times reported that Trump’s changes involved toughening the terms of the proposed deal, and that the US has sent the new framework back to be considered by Iran.

Citing officials familiar with the matter, the report on Saturday said it was not immediately clear what the changes entailed.

However, Axios reported that Trump wanted to reinforce multiple points of the deal that he felt were important, such as what to do with Iran’s nuclear material.

A senior US official told Axios that Trump was informed it could take three days for Iran to respond. “They’re literally in caves, and they’re not using email,” the official said, according to the report.

“There will be a deal. The imminence of it, we’ll see. We’re willing to wait so the president gets what he asks for. It could be a week. It could be less. It could be more. At the turn of the week, we hope to have something,” the official added.

Iran says ‘dialogue ongoing’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the country’s IRNA news agency on Sunday that “dialogue and an exchange of messages are ongoing” with the US.

“It is not possible to judge until a clear conclusion is reached,” Araghchi said amid the recent speculation about the negotiations. “Everything that is being said now is speculation and should not be taken seriously until it is certain.”

Iran’s chief negotiator had earlier in the day said Tehran would not agree to any deal that does not secure full Iranian rights.

“There is no trust in the ⁠enemy’s words and ⁠promises. Our only criterion is to achieve tangible results ⁠before we fulfill our ⁠commitments in ⁠return,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said after taking an oath as ‌the re-elected speaker of parliament.

The new tweaks purportedly being sought by Trump could prolong negotiations for days before a decision is reached on the deal to end the war, which began after the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

US sources told the AFP news agency that the proposed agreement that is on the table had been waiting on Trump’s sign-off, but he made no decision after a White House Situation Room meeting on Friday.

Richard Weitz, senior fellow at NATO Defense College, warned that the longer it takes to reach an agreement, “there is a heightened risk that the kinetic operations will restart” in the war.

“The risks are moderate compared to the value of reaching an agreement, in which both sides feel satisfied and therefore stick to that agreement rather than try to revise it later, which could lead to even more escalation,” he told Al Jazeera.

Trump has said his priorities for any deal include Iran agreeing to never develop nuclear weapons and to reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supply transits.

On Saturday, the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters reasserted the country’s control over the strait, warning that foreign commercial and military vessels would be targeted if they did not comply with regulations governing passage through the strategic waterway.

Tehran has also said repeatedly that it does not intend to build nuclear weapons. In March 2025, Tulsi Gabbard, the former US director of national intelligence, testified to Congress that Washington “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon”.