Wait for Iran deal continues after Trump says he’ll make ‘final determination’

President Donald Trump is yet to make a decision over a deal that could extend the current ceasefire with Iran, with no announcement on Friday following a Situation Room meeting in which he said he would make a “final determination.”

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

Oil prices have dipped this week amid the persistent reports that Trump and Iran could be close to sealing the agreement that has eluded the two sides for over a month.

While U.S. and Arab officials have been indicating for days that the deal is close to being finalized, it is still yet to be approved by either side. Nearly a week ago, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had predicted there could be “good news” within hours, only for Trump to say he wouldn’t “rush into” an agreement.

Trump said Friday that Iran must agree to never have a nuclear weapon, that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened for “unrestricted shipping traffic, in both directions”, and that any mines in the waterway are “destroyed.”

He said he was meeting in the Situation Room “to make a final determination” about the deal, but that two-hour meeting wrapped without a further statement from the White House.

The agreement is expected to extend the current shaky ceasefire that has been in place since early April, though both sides have accused the other of breaching it with continued strikes.

U.S. officials said Friday that the White House was reviewing an agreement to start 60 days of discussions with Iran about its nuclear program, but neither side has signed off on the deal.

Iranian state media has painted a vastly different picture than the White House on the contents of the agreement, with both sides setting out a number of red lines.

A senior Arab official directly involved in mediating peace talks between Washington and Tehran told NBC News on Thursday that American and Iranian negotiators agreed to the terms of a truce deal days ago but that both sides have delayed finalizing and announcing it.

“It was already closed in Doha three days ago; now everyone is playing a game of chicken and egg,” the official said, describing the delays as “frustrating.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday that President Trump was “patient,” and wants to make a “great deal” that ensures Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit in Singapore, he said that “any deal with Iran would be a good deal.”

He later added that the U.S. would fulfil its “global obligations to ensure that, say, Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon,” and that it was ready to restart attacks on Iran if ‌a deal cannot be reached.

“Our stockpiles are more ​than suited for that, both there and around the globe, so we’re in a very good place,” he added. “We are more than capable.”

Some changes have been made to the draft text of a possible deal between the U.S. and Iran in the past days, Iran’s semiofficial news agency Tasnim reported Friday, citing an informed source. It said the text had yet to be finalized. NBC News was not able to independently confirm the reporting.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also appeared to pour cold water on any signs of an imminent breakthrough.

“A final understanding has not yet been reached,” he said Friday in a phonecall with IRIB news channel IRINN. “Nuclear issues are not being discussed in detail at this stage and the focus is on ending the war.”

While a breakthrough remains elusive, oil prices have fallen as hopes grew for a deal to be agreed to between the U.S. and Iran to end the war that has consumed the Middle East for the past three months.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading 1.8% lower on Friday at around $92 a barrel, with the price falling almost 20% in May amid signs of a potential deal between the U.S. and Iran to end the war and see the Strait of Hormuz reopened.

The war and subsequent closure of the strait, a key trade route through which some 20% of the world’s oil passes, have sent energy prices soaring over the last three months.