Trump demands tougher terms as Iran nuclear deal hangs in balance and Israel expands Lebanon offensive

A deal in flux

The United States and Iran have been engaged in indirect negotiations for weeks, aiming to end the Middle East war that erupted on 28 February when the US and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran. A fragile truce has been in place since 8 April, but the path to a permanent agreement remains uncertain. President Donald Trump met with his national security team on Friday in the White House Situation Room for what was billed as a "final decision" on the deal, yet the two-hour meeting concluded without any announcement.

The guarantee I need to have is that there will be no nuclear weapon. They accepted that and it is very interesting.

Trump told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in a Fox News interview broadcast Saturday night that Iran had agreed to renounce nuclear weapons. However, Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump's assertions, and significant gaps remain between the two sides' priorities.

Trump's last-minute amendments

According to Axios and The New York Times, Trump has sent a revised negotiating framework back to Iran with tougher conditions. Citing two senior US officials, Axios reported that Trump requested changes to clauses concerning Iran's atomic program. While the draft includes a commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, it lacked specific concessions regarding the handover of Iran's uranium stockpiles. One official said Trump wants "greater precision" on how and when the United States would obtain that uranium.

The proposed document sets a 60-day deadline from the signing of the agreement to negotiate Iran's nuclear commitments and the lifting of US sanctions. The first item to be addressed would be the management of Iran's enriched uranium reserves and the imposition of limits on future enrichment processes. Trump was reportedly informed that the Iranians would take about three days to respond to his suggestions.

Competing demands and red lines

Iran has insisted on the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear program. Iranian state media claimed on Saturday that an "unofficial" draft memorandum of understanding with the United States included freeing those frozen assets, a claim the White House has previously dismissed as "fabrication." Tehran also demands that Lebanon be included in any agreement to end the war, following Beirut's accusations that Israel is pursuing a "scorched earth policy" in its conflict with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement.

I'm in no hurry. Slowly but surely we are achieving, I think, what we want and if we don't get what we want, we're going to end it another way.

Trump spent the weekend at the White House rather than traveling to his residences in Florida or New Jersey, playing golf at his Virginia course without making statements to the press. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, said Washington is "more than capable" of restarting the war if necessary and that US forces are prepared to resume military operations.

The Strait of Hormuz and military pressure

The Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20% of the world's oil supply transited before the war, remains a critical sticking point. Trump has demanded the strait be reopened "immediately" and that Iran commit to clearing mines from the waterway. Meanwhile, the US maintains its own blockade on Iranian ports. US forces announced Saturday they had disabled the Gambian-flagged cargo vessel Lian Star in the Gulf of Oman as it attempted to access an Iranian port, marking the sixth vessel intercepted since Washington imposed the blockade in April.

[Trump] wants me to reiterate how patient he is being to ensure that any deal is a good one. A great deal.

Israel widens Lebanon front

Complicating the diplomatic picture, the Israeli military announced Sunday that its offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon is "extending to other areas." Israeli forces captured the Beaufort fortress, a strategic Crusader-era castle in southern Lebanon. Tehran has made Lebanon's inclusion in any peace deal a condition for ending the war, adding another layer of complexity to the already strained negotiations.