Following days of suspense over a peace treaty, President Donald Trump has announced that the United States (US) and Iran have finalised a deal which would be signed likely this weekend in Europe. Trump, who earlier paused fresh strikes on Iran, said the deal will be signed in presence of Vice President JD Vance.ย
He also said Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has personally approved the deal. “I don’t know if you heard, but we ended the war with Iran today (Thursday), and they have agreed never to have a nuclear weapon, something that we insisted on. That was the whole purpose,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office of White House.ย
Notably, Trump said has agreed for ending its bid to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran’s nuclear programme has remained the biggest contentious point, it has been Trump’s administration central goal to ensure that the Middle East nation fails to make a nuke.
US-Israel on same page over Iran’s nuclear programme
Earlier, Trump had even claimed that Iran could target Israel and also Europe if it gets a hand on a nuclear weapon. Israel, America’s key ally in the region, has also backed Trump over his stance on this issue and repeatedly said that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.
On Thursday, after Trump announced the peace deal, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Trump’s commitments on limiting Iran’s nuclear programme and said the deal should include a proposal to remove Tehran’s enriched nuclear material.
“Although Israel is not party to the memorandum of understanding, the prime minister expressed his appreciation for President Trump’s commitment that the final agreement at the conclusion of negotiations will include the removal of enriched material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and the cessation of Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.
No clarity from Iran over nuclear programme, enriched uranium
However, there has been no clarity from the Iranian side over whether it has agreed handing over the enriched uranium. It is worth mentioning that Iran has also rejected Trump’s claim of a deal and said the two sides have not finalised anything. Therefore, chances are less than Iran would have agreed for handing over the enriched uranium and pausing its nuclear programme.
According to a report by the Associated Press, Iran has “440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60 per cent purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.” Most of these uranium — around 200 kilograms (about 440 pounds) — is stored inside the tunnels of the Isfahan nuclear site.
The Associated Press had reported earlier that Iran’s stockpile, if Tehran decides to weaponise it, could allow it to build around 10 nuclear bombs. However, Iran has repeatedly insisted that its nuclear activities are aimed exclusively at civilian and energy needs. Thus, it has maintained that it will not compromise on its nuclear programme. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether Iran will agree to halting its nuclear activities as part of the peace treaty.
ALSO READ – Special forces, engineers: Inside Trump’s ‘high-risk’ plan to retrieve Iran’s uranium and why he stopped