WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran has agreed to hand over its store of enriched uranium and that the two sides were “very close” to a peace deal to end the war, and the next US-Iran meeting may take place over the weekend.
At the same time, President Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day truce starting on Thursday and said he expected the two countries´ leaders at the White House in “four or five days”.
Trump told reporters at the White House that “there´s a very good chance we´re going to make a deal” with Tehran. “They´ve agreed to give us back the nuclear dust,” he said.
“And if that happens, oil goes way down, prices go way down, inflation goes way down, and you won’t have nuclear holocaust,” Trump said. “We’re getting along very well with the new Iranian leaders. It really is a regime change.” But Trump did not give a clear message on whether the ceasefire would be extended.
“I’m not sure it needs to be extended,” he said, while also adding: “Iran wants to make a deal, and we’re dealing very nicely with them ... and they’re willing to do things today that they weren’t willing to do two months.”
Asked about the next round of direct talks, Trump responded that it would happen “maybe over the weekend.” He said the deal would be announced “fairly soon,” adding, “That’ll give us free oil and free Hormuz Strait. Everything will be nice and I think your oil price will go down lower than it was before.”
The Iranian ambassador to the UN said Tehran was “cautiously optimistic” about its negotiations on ending hostilities with the US and expressed hope for a “meaningful outcome”.
A senior Iranian official said earlier Thursday that Iran and the United States have made some progress as they push for an agreement to end weeks of warfare, but more than halfway through a two-week truce big splits remain including over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
The official said a visit by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir to Tehran on Wednesday had helped reduce differences in some areas, increasing hopes for an extended ceasefire and renewed talks between Tehran and Washington.
US House Democrats introduced six articles of impeachment against Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, accusing him of “high crimes and misdemeanors” including waging war on Iran without congressional approval.
The impeachment resolution is led by Yassamin Ansari, a Democratic Congresswoman from Arizona, and has slim chances of passing due to the Republican majority in the House.
“I´ve introduced Articles of Impeachment against Pete Hegseth for violating his oath, endangering U.S. servicemembers, and committing war crimes, including attacks on civilians and a girls´ school in Minab, Iran,” Ansari wrote on X.
”Only Congress can declare war; his actions demand immediate removal.”
The US House of Representatives backed President Donald Trump’s military campaign against Iran on Thursday, narrowly defeating a Democratic-led resolution aiming to stop the war until hostilities are authorized by Congress.
The war powers resolution was defeated by 214 to 213 in the Republican-majority chamber, a day after a similar measure was blocked in the Senate.
The vote was almost exclusively along party lines, with every Republican except one opposing the resolution, and one voting present. One Democrat voted against it.
The US naval blockade of Iran is just an example of “polite” behavior during the ongoing ceasefire and US forces are ready to strike Iran’s power plants and energy industry if ordered, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday.
Standing alongside two of the US military’s most senior officers, Hegseth said Iran needs to choose wisely as it prepares for negotiations with the United States. “We are reloading with more power than ever before, and better intelligence,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon news briefing. “We are locked and loaded on your critical dual-use infrastructure, on your remaining power generation, and on your energy industry. We’d rather not have to do it.”
Hegseth said that China has assured the United States that it will not send weapons to Iran during the ceasefire in the Middle East war.
During the same briefing, General Dan Caine, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, added that American forces are “ready to resume major combat operations at literally a moment’s notice.”
US Navy ships would pursue any Iranian-flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran, Caine told the briefing. He added that could take place not just in the region, but also the Indo-Pacific.
The US military has widened its blockade to include cargoes deemed contraband, and any vessels suspected of trying to reach Iranian territory will be “subject to belligerent right to visit and search,” the US Navy said in an advisory on Thursday.
China’s Foreign Minister said on Thursday that the priority is to push the US and Iran back to negotiations, citing the “serious impacts the protracted conflict has had on international energy security and the security of shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks during a meeting with his Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani, in Beijing.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday it was “very important” for Pope Leo to understand that Iran is a threat to the world. “The Pope can say what he wants, and I want him to say what he wants, but I can disagree,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “The Pope has to understand that this is the real world.”
Germany is in principle ready to help secure transit routes through the Strait of Hormuz after hostilities end, provided there is a mandate, preferably from the United Nations, and German parliamentary approval, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said. “We are still a long way from all of that,” Merz told reporters a day before talks in Paris that, he said, would also cover whether US armed forces could participate in a mission.
Iran could let ships sail freely through the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz without risk of attack under proposals it has offered in talks with the US, providing a deal is clinched to prevent renewed conflict, a source briefed by Tehran said.
The proposal appeared to be more of a gesture than a move that would, on its own, offer an immediate breakthrough for hundreds of ships waiting to pass through the key waterway.
The source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Iran could be willing to let ships use the other side of the narrow strait in Omani waters without any hindrance from Tehran. “We welcome any moves to permit safe transit of ships through the established traffic separation scheme,” said a spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which is the United Nations’ shipping agency.
Iran halted all petrochemical exports to prioritise domestic supply and prevent shortages of raw materials, the economic newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad reported on Thursday, due to disrupted production after Israel struck several petrochemical hubs.
Israel´s defence minister Israel Katz warned Iran against rejecting a US proposal focused on renouncing “nuclear armament” and vowed to stage “even more painful” strikes on new targets if it did so Iran arrested four suspected Israeli spies, state media reported on Thursday.
”The four agents linked to the Mossad were apprehended in Gilan governorate” in northern Iran, IRNA reported, citing a statement from Iran´s Revolutionary Guards.
British police said on Thursday they had arrested three people in connection with an attempted arson attack on the offices of a Persian-language media organisation in northwest London, which followed two similar incidents in the British capital.
An ignited container was thrown towards the premises of the parent company of Iran International, Volant Media, on Wednesday evening, landing in a car park where the fire extinguished itself. No damage was reported and there were no injuries, the police said.
Two men, aged 19 and 21, and a 16-year-old boy were arrested on suspicion of arson endangering life. The arson attempt was not being treated as terrorism, but counterterrorism officers were involved in the investigation, police said.
Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors have agreed to stay ready to act to mitigate economic and inflation risks caused by the Middle East war’s energy price and supply shocks, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said on Thursday.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was headed Thursday to China, seeking to boost economic ties while also calling on Beijing to help efforts towards peace in Iran and Ukraine.
Japanese stocks hit a record high as most equity markets rose Thursday on heightened optimism the United States and Iran will extend their ceasefire for further talks to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The gains tracked Wall Street, which also saw all-time peaks as investors were cheered by healthy earnings that indicated the US economy remained resilient despite surging oil prices and rising inflation.
French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies said Thursday its production in the first quarter of the year was expected to have remained stable despite the Middle East war hitting its output in the region.
Governments and airlines are sounding increasingly urgent alarms about diminishing jet fuel supplies and soaring prices due to the Iran war, as Lufthansa grounded planes, Nigerian carriers threatened to stop flying, and a fire cut fuel output in Australia.
The German government has halved its growth forecast for 2026 and has also cut its growth prediction for 2027, while raising its inflation projections, a source told Reuters on Thursday, as theIran war drives up oil and gas prices.
Meanwhile, President Trump announced on Thursday that Lebanon and Israel had agreed on a 10-day ceasefire, as optimism grew that the Iran war may be nearing an end.
Trump said in a social media post that the ceasefire would start at 5 p.m. EST (2100 GMT), aiming to halt a conflict between Israel and the Iran-aligned Lebanese group Hezbollah that was reignited by the US-Israeli war against Iran.
He said he had held “excellent conversations” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
“These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” he said. “Both sides want to see PEACE, and I believe that will happen, quickly!”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the ceasefire announcement, saying on X: “This is a relief, as this conflict has already claimed far too many lives.”
Hezbollah said that the presence of Israeli troops on Lebanese territory would grant Lebanon and its people “the right to resist,” adding in its first comment on a proposed truce that any ceasefire must not allow Israel freedom of movement within Lebanon. In a written statement, Hezbollah ally and speaker of Lebanon’s Parliament Nabih Berri urged Lebanese to “postpone their return to their towns and villages until the situation becomes clearer, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.”
Senior Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the group had been briefed on a possible short-term ceasefire to start on Thursday night by Iran’s ambassador to Beirut. Fadlallah spoke to Reuters minutes before US President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire would start at 5:00 p.m. U.S. eastern time (2100 GMT). When asked whether Hezbollah would abide by a possible truce, Fadlallah said everything depended on Israel halting all forms of hostilities.
Iran has welcomed ceasefire in Lebanon, saying it was part of Iran-US ceasefire understanding mediated by Pakistan, Iranian media citing foreign ministry spokesperson reported. Iran stressed the need for full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
