Donald Trump defended himself against criticism from fellow Republicans on Sunday as he appeared on the verge of agreeing a deal with Iran to end the war.As hawks in his party called the proposed agreement a disaster and questioned why the US president had launched the conflict in the first place, Trump claimed on social media that his deal would be “THE EXACT OPPOSITE” of the one agreed by Barack Obama, which Trump pulled out of in 2018.He added that he was not rushing into a deal, saying “both sides must take their time to get it right ... There can be no mistakes!”Trump insisted “the US blockade of Iran’s ports will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed”.“Nobody has seen” the deal, “or knows what it is”, the US president later added. “It isn’t even fully negotiated yet. So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about.”Facing mounting criticism from inside his own party, Trump insisted: “I don’t make bad deals!”The proposed deal reportedly offers Iran sanctions relief and the unlocking of as much as $20bn of frozen assets in return for Iran reopening the strait of Hormuz and agreeing to negotiate on its nuclear programme over the next 60 days, starting on June 5th in Pakistan. Details of the final points of dispute were not released. At least $6bn of the assets are held by Qatar.At the centre of the delay is a US demand that the unfreezing of those assets in Qatar be made conditional on progress on the handover of Iran’s enriched uranium.The deal also reportedly requires Iran and the US, and their allies, to cease fighting, and for Israel to end its offensive in Lebanon.As Trump moved to reassure those concerned about the deal’s contents, several US media outlets, citing unnamed White House officials, reported that it could take days for it to be finalised.Iran’s supreme leader and national security council still need to approve the proposed peace deal between Tehran and Washington, Iranian officials said on Sunday.One or two clauses in the proposed peace deal between the US and Iran must be clarified to Iran’s satisfaction before the memorandum of understanding can be sent to Iran’s supreme national security council and the supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, for ratification, the officials said, adding this had been conveyed to the Pakistani mediators.The Iranian government seemed to be in jubilant mood, preparing to claim a historic victory over its two great foes, the US and Israel. A man holds a photo of Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, during a ceremony for the national soccer team in Tehran. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said: “What has guaranteed the preservation and stability of the country is the solidarity and empathy of the people.” On Saturday, Trump spoke to the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, the key original advocate of the war when it began in February, to try to reassure him on the ceasefire’s terms. Netanyahu is also trying to retain his freedom to continue to attack Hizbullah in Lebanon, but Iran is insisting the ceasefire must apply on all fronts. On Sunday, Israel continued to strike south and east Lebanon, despite a supposed ceasefire there.In a social media post on Sunday, the Israeli leader said: “President Trump and I agreed that any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear danger,” and that Trump had reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself “on every front, including Lebanon”.In reality, Netanyahu has little option other than to accept Trump’s decision to end a war that is unpopular in the US and is crippling the world economy by increasing inflation and creating critical supply shortages. [ JD Vance stakes his claim for the 2028 Republican nominationOpens in new window ]Gulf states, as well as the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, had lobbied Trump on Saturday on the phone urging him to rule out returning to a bombing campaign inside Iran that they said would only bring Iranian reprisals and not topple an entrenched regime.Trump – who said on Friday he would not attend his son’s wedding this weekend, citing Iran among the reasons for staying in Washington – wrote on his social media platform: “An agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalisation between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the various other Countries.” The US and western countries have been insistent that Iran should not be allowed to impose tolls on shipping in the strait.Iran’s Fars news agency, which is close to the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), stated that the strait would remain under Iranian control.It reported on Telegram that “the management of the strait, determining the route, time, method of passage and issuing permits, will continue to be the monopoly, and at the discretion of, the Islamic Republic of Iran”.But Iran has agreed that shipping through the strait should return to the pre-war levels within 30 days.On Saturday, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said the future governance of the strait was a matter for negotiation between Iran on the north shore of the strait and Oman on the south, and not an issue in which the US could be involved.President Donald Trump: wrote on social media that an "agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalisation between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the various other countries". Photograph: Allison Robbert/The New York Times