US-Iran Deal Nears, but Military Threats and Sanctions Tensions Keep Escalating

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday local time that the US and Iran were close to reaching a deal to end the fighting, but President Trump has not approved it and the White House wants the final plan to meet several core conditions.

Speaking at the White House, Bessent said: “We now have the basis for a deal.” He also revealed that the two sides have been exchanging proposals. “Everything depends on the president’s decision,” and President Trump will never accept a deal that harms US interests.

Bessent said Iran must agree to dispose of highly enriched uranium, pledge never to develop nuclear weapons, and fully restore transit through the Strait of Hormuz. US officials previously said those terms would be included in the memorandum of understanding.

Earlier, US officials said the two countries were close to a 60-day agreement that would require both sides to gradually lift the blockade in the strait during the first 30 days.

If finalized, the deal would be the first step in a phased framework agreement. The US hopes to use this framework to push Iran to sharply scale back its nuclear program over the coming decades, including by removing its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Even if the US and Iran continue talks for at least another two months, the deal would almost certainly force the Trump administration to partially adjust its military objectives.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported on Thursday that Tehran said the final text of the deal has not yet been completed. Iranian officials said that if a deal is reached, it will be announced by Pakistan, the main third party mediating the talks.

Iran has demanded several concessions: the release of assets frozen overseas under US sanctions, retention of its own management rights over the Strait of Hormuz, including whether to charge passing ships a transit fee; it also wants the ceasefire to help bring about a lasting truce in Lebanon.

Iranian officials worry that, under Israeli influence, Trump could tear up the deal.

Trump said at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting that he would not sign any Iran-related deal unless Arab states such as Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords. Although the US midterm elections are approaching in November, Trump also said he was in no rush to finalize a deal.

Trump has repeatedly threatened that if Iran refuses to sign, the US will fully resume military strikes, only to later retract the remarks several times. Bessent repeated that threat again on Thursday.

US officials said Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had already endorsed the broad contours of the framework, but the final plan still needs his formal approval. Iranian officials have also said the deal is near, while acknowledging that differences remain.

The two countries previously fought a 39-day conflict. Iran’s military and senior leadership suffered heavy losses, while Iran also attacked energy facilities in several Gulf states and blocked the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil shipments pass.

Since early April, the US and Iran have maintained a fragile ceasefire in an effort to end the conflict completely, but global energy prices have continued to rise, and Iran, the US and the global economy have all been hit hard.

The US and Iran have exchanged fire twice again this week. On Thursday, Iran fired a ballistic missile at Kuwait, which was then successfully intercepted.

The framework agreement sets out arrangements under which both sides must lift their mutual maritime blockades within 30 days and pledge to stop hostile actions, while spelling out the phased benefits Iran would receive: first from the lifting of the strait blockade, and later more benefits if a full nuclear deal is reached. The framework is valid for 60 days and can be extended.

US officials said that over the next two months, the US will move ahead under the deal by gradually unfreezing Iranian funds and considering easing some sanctions. A senior Trump administration official said all of these steps would depend on verified Iranian compliance with the deal’s terms.

Bessent said the US would continue its all-out economic pressure campaign against Iran and announced sanctions on the body responsible for managing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. He later warned that the US would also act if Oman helped collect transit fees from passing ships.

If a comprehensive nuclear deal is ultimately reached, sanctions relief on Iran could go beyond the 2015 nuclear agreement signed by former President Obama. That deal lifted most secondary sanctions, but it did not repeal the core law, and US banks, companies and individuals still could not do business with Iran.

Some former US officials and experts are not optimistic about a detailed final nuclear deal, arguing that Iran may not sharply shrink its nuclear program as the White House wants. This could leave Iran under broad US and international sanctions, while the US and its allies would continue to question the scale and pace of Iran’s nuclear development.

At present, international inspectors are unable to access most of Iran’s key nuclear facilities.

US officials said the delay in completing the final approval process is mainly due to Iran’s complex decision-making structure. In the past, the Supreme Leader has been deeply involved in consultations and decisions on core issues such as national security and diplomacy with the US. But Khamenei is reportedly now in hiding and cut off from much of Iran’s top leadership, making his position difficult to convey and adding uncertainty to the talks.

Iranian officials have repeatedly accused the White House of constantly changing the terms of the talks and of taking military action during the negotiations.

The negotiations are being advanced by the US and Iran with mediation from Pakistan, while Washington also remains in contact with Israel and several Gulf allies.