Trump touts nuclear guarantee from Iran, but Tehran counters with demand for US$12b in assets

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - US President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons. — AFP pic

WASHINGTON, May 31 — US President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons, as reports emerged, he had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Tehran.

Any tweaks to the proposal could prolong even further an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and open the Strait of Hormuz maritime route after weeks of efforts to secure a deal despite fractious rhetoric and the occasional flare up of armed conflict.

The New York Times and Axios media outlets reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a new framework to be considered by Iran with “tougher” terms, though it was not immediately clear what that entailed.

Trump has said his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview broadcast on her Fox News program on Saturday night.

But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions and the parties appeared far apart on their key priorities.

Iran has said it requires the release of US$12 billion in frozen assets before it moved to substantive talks on issues such as its nuclear program and called earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium — a precursor for nuclear weapons — would be destroyed “baseless”, according to Iranian media.

Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon must be included in any end to the war despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a “scorched-earth policy” as its forces advanced and carried out further airstrikes it says target Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

After Trump and US officials earlier said they were on the brink of striking a deal, he struck a less urgent tone and hinted at renewed military action in the Fox interview.

“I’m in no hurry,” he said. “Slowly but surely we’re getting, I think, what we want and if we don’t get what we want, we’re going to end in a different way.”

Flare ups

That echoed comments from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth who said at a defense summit in Asia on Saturday that Washington was “more than capable” of restarting the war if necessary.

Though daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf have stopped since Tehran and Washington struck a temporary ceasefire in April followed by historic talks hosted by Pakistan, bursts of armed conflict have continued.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had shot down a US military drone “about to enter Iranian territorial waters to conduct hostile operations”, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported, an incident that has not been confirmed by the United States.

Earlier in the week, the worst fighting since the fragile ceasefire broke out when US forces carried out strikes on the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, countered by retaliatory fire from Iran.

Nevertheless diplomacy has continued with Trump under pressure to reach an agreement that would lift US and Iranian competing blockades around the Strait of Hormuz that have choked international oil supplies and threatened the global economy with rising prices.

After Trump said on social media that Tehran would charge “no tolls” on ships passing through the strait once the blockades were lifted under any deal, Iranian news agency Fars cited sources saying “no such clause appears in the text of the agreement”.

Iran’s ISNA news agency on Saturday cited lawmaker Alireza Salimi as saying a plan “to implement Iran’s management and sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz will soon be approved by parliament”.

Expanded Lebanon operations

Israel’s military issued evacuation warnings for more villages in south Lebanon on Saturday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces had pushed more than 30 kilometres (20 miles) into the country.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy and collective punishment”, and called for “a swift and real ceasefire.”

Israel’s military confirmed it was expanding its ground offensive in a statement released early on Sunday, saying “a significant number” of its forces had advanced past the Litani river and were carrying out expanded operations against Hezbollah in the Beaufort Ridge and Wadi al-Saluki area.

A truce between Israel and Hezbollah began on April 17 but has never been observed, with both sides accusing each other of violating it.

In early March, Tehran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes, prompting Israel to carry out near-daily air raids in Lebanon and launch a ground invasion.

Israel and Lebanon began direct talks in April, with a fourth round expected in the coming week. — AFP