Trump did so at a time when information is leaking from Washington, according to which the US could launch another wave of airstrikes against Iran this weekend. It should be a “decisive military operation” after which the United States could declare victory and end the war.
Trump was supposed to discuss this scenario with his closest advisers on Friday. But on Saturday, according to the Axios server, he declared that he would have a conference call with some of the leaders of the Middle East states that same day. He also wanted to discuss with his advisers a new Iranian offer, the content of which he has not disclosed yet.
In his words, Trump sees the chances of settling the situation as “fifty to fifty”. “Either a good agreement will be concluded, or we will sweep them off the face of the earth,” the president let himself be heard.
A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that Iran and the United States are in the final stages of negotiating a memorandum of understanding and ending the war. Trump said he would only agree to an agreement that would address Iran’s uranium enrichment and the fate of Iran’s existing stockpiles of this raw material.
“I think one of two things is going to happen: either they’re going to hit them harder than ever, or we’re going to sign a good deal,” Trump said.
In its Saturday edition, The Financial Times writes that Iran and the US are “closer” to an agreement on a 60-day extension of the ceasefire and establishing a framework for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program.
“Fragile progress”
People familiar with the content of the negotiations said the agreement would include the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Washington’s steps to ease the blockade of Iranian ports, the easing of sanctions, as well as negotiations on the dilution or transfer of Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who threatened “crushing retribution” in the event of renewed US strikes, has recently made it known that the progress in the negotiations is “fragile”.
