WASHINGTON
\nUS President Donald Trump met advisers in the White House Situation Room for about two hours on Friday as he considered a potential agreement with Iran, though Tehran insisted there was still \u201cno final agreement\u201d on ending the Middle East war.
\nA report from Iran\u2019s Fars news agency also rebutted several key elements of Trump\u2019s characterisation of the deal, citing informed sources as calling his remarks a \u201cmixture of truth and lies\u201d.
\nUS sources had told AFP the deal was just waiting on Trump\u2019s sign-off following weeks of halting negotiations to end a conflict that had engulfed the Middle East and shaken the global economy.
\n\u201cI will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determinat\u00adion,\u201d Trump said in a leng\u00adthy social media post before the session, reiterating long-held demands that Iran agree never to have nuclear weapons and must open the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.
\nIranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, however, told state media that the Islamic republic \u201csaid goodbye to the language of \u2018must\u2019 47 years ago\u201d.
\n\u201cRegarding the understanding\u2026 exchanges of messages are continuing, but no final agreement has been reached yet,\u201d he added.
\nIn his post, Trump said Tehran would remove mines in the Strait of Hormuz and end its blockade of the waterway with \u201cno tolls\u201d, while the US would lift its parallel blockade of Iranian ports, and the two countries would coordinate on removing and destroying Iran\u2019s enriched uranium.
\nHe also said \u201cno money will be exchanged, until further notice\u201d.
\nFars, however, cited Iranian sources as saying that Tehran was demanding \u201cthe immediate release of $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets\u201d, and that \u201cuntil this payment is made, Iran will not move to the next phase of negotiations\u201d.
\nAs for the toll-free reopening of Hormuz, they said, \u201cno such clause appears in the text of the agreement\u201d, while the comment on destroying Iran\u2019s nuclear material \u201cis fundamentally baseless\u201d.
\nBaqaei also told state TV that there were currently \u201cno negotiations\u201d taking place on Iran\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n
\u2018A lot of progress\u2019
\nHopes of an agreement had risen on Thursday after US officials were positive about the direction of diplomacy, with Vance telling reporters \u201ca lot of progress\u201d had been made.
\nThe optimism boosted US and Asian stock markets on Friday, while oil prices receded slightly.
\nEnergy markets have whipsawed this week as investors parse the chances of an agreement that could potentially resume normal shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
\nWashington and Tehran have accused each other of violating the truce in and around the strait as recently as this week, with US strikes on the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas countered by retaliatory Iranian fire.
\nIranian state TV said on Friday that 24 ships had transited the strait in the past 24 hours, in coordination with the Revolutionary Guards and the foreign ministry.
\nBut it warned that \u201cships from hostile countries face a severe response\u201d from Iran\u2019s military.<\/p>\n
\u2018US aircraft destroyed\u2019
\nEarlier, Iran\u2019s state TV said on Friday that a US aircraft was destroyed in Iran\u2019s Jam governorate in Bushehr, citing its governor Masoud Tangestani, with no confirmation from the United States.
\nHowever, the US military said no American aircraft were shot down near Bushehr, Iran, despite a claim made on Iranian state TV. \u201cNo US aircraft were shot down. All US air assets are accounted for,\u201d the US Central Command said in a post on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON US President Donald Trump met advisers in the White House Situation Room for about two hours on Friday as he considered a potential agreement with Iran, though Tehran insisted there was still \u201cno final agreement\u201d on ending the Middle East war. A report from Iran\u2019s Fars news agency also rebutted several key elements of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-548730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n