US and Iranian negotiators are “getting a lot closer” to finalising an agreement to end the war, Donald Trump has said. In an interview with CBS News, the US president said a final agreement would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and would ensure that Iran’s enriched uranium would be “satisfactorily handled”.“I will only sign a deal where we get everything we want,” he told the broadcaster. Iran, the US and mediator Pakistan all said on Saturday that progress had been made in talks on ending a war that began almost three months ago.Trump said he would discuss the latest Iran draft agreement with advisers on Saturday and might make a decision on whether to resume the war by Sunday, he told Axios in a separate interview.“Either we reach a good deal or I’ll blow them to a thousand hells,” Trump said.A ceasefire was declared six weeks ago to allow the sides to come to agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil and gas supply route now controlled by Tehran.There has been a flurry of diplomacy in the last few days aimed at preventing renewed US strikes on Iran and potentially extending the ceasefire.Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s top negotiator and parliamentary speaker said meet the Pakistani army chief in Tehran and later said there will be no compromise over his country’s national rights. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran would secure its “legitimate rights”, whether through the battlefield or through negotiations, while accusing the US of not being an honest negotiating partner.“If Trump acts foolishly and the war resumes, the response against the United States will certainly be more crushing and bitter than on the first day of the war,” Ghalibaf said, according to Iranian state media.He added that the Iranian military had rebuilt its capabilities during the ceasefire.Pakistan has led a renewed push in recent days to bridge the gap between the US and Iran. Pakistan’s army chief, Syed Asim Munir, also met Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, on Saturday, before leaving Tehran.The talks reportedly focused on a 14-point peace proposal by Iran, as well as an exchange of messages between the two parties.A Qatari delegation met Iranian and Pakistani mediators in Iran on Friday, and on Saturday, Trump spoke with the Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to discuss “regional and international efforts to stabilise the ceasefire”, according to a statement from Tamim’s office. – Reuters/Guardian
US and Iranian negotiators ‘a lot closer’ to finalising agreement to end war, Trump says
Iranian official says ceasefire, now in sixth week, has allowed Tehran an opportunity to rebuild its military capabilities











