President Donald Trump said on Saturday that a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal has been "largely negotiated" with Iran and will open the Strait of Hormuz, with details to be unveiled soon.
"Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly," Trump wrote on Trump Social.
Trump posted the announcement after separate calls with the leaders of Muslim majority nations and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Earlier on Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signaled progress in U.S. peace talks with Iran during a trip to India.
After meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rubio told reporters that “there might be news” on the status of the talks later in the day or in a few days.
“There’s been some progress made,” Rubio said. “Even as I speak to you now, there’s some work being done. This issue needs to be solved, as the president said, one way or the other.”
Rubio once again reiterated U.S. demands, saying Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened without tolls, and enriched uranium needs be turned over.
Trump’s preference is to deal with Iran in a diplomatic way, Rubio said. Trump earlier said he would be holding off on a military strike against Iran because “serious negotiations” were underway, and at the request of allies in the Middle East. The president has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran but paused or delayed action when negotiations seemed to progress or regional allies pushed for restraint.
According to a statement by State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, Rubio discussed the Middle East during talks with Modi.
Iranian officials said positions have moved closer in recent days.
“Over the past week, the trend has been toward narrowing differences,” according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei in remarks broadcast by IRNA, Iran’s official state-run television agency. “We will have to wait and see what happens over the next three or four days.”
Baghaei had described a draft agreement as a “framework” for a deal, adding that Iran wants to first focus on including the “main issues” required for ending the war and other issues of importance. He also confirmed the Strait of Hormuz is among the topics being discussed, however, nuclear issues are not part of the current negotiations.