Steven Cheung, White House communications director on Saturday sharply criticized former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying he “has no idea” what he is talking about and is not “read into anything that’s happening,” urging him to “leave the real work to the professionals.”
Ali Gholhaki, a hardline Iranian influencer said on Satruday that Pakistan’s army chief left Iran to convey the US response and help finalize a “joint memorandum of understanding” for a difficult nuclear negotiation phase.
Gholhaki outlined reported terms including an end to hostilities across all fronts, reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting of a blockade, release of $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets as part of a wider $25 billion package under discussion, reduction of US military presence near Iran, and a 30-day window for nuclear negotiations, with some funds potentially disbursed quickly via Qatar if delays occur.
The IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency reported on Saturday that during indirect exchanges between Iran and the United States, American officials and mediators privately told Tehran not to pay attention to Donald Trump’s public posts, including on Truth Social, suggesting they are aimed mainly at domestic audiences.
According to the report, US messages to Iran framed Trump’s public rhetoric as distinct from his negotiating position, which it described as “completely different” behind closed doors, while adding that discussions underway are more pragmatic than the public escalation tone.
Alex Marquardt reported that a US proposal to Iran outlines phased sanctions relief, oil export waivers, and a reconstruction fund under a Memorandum of Understanding that would defer major disputes - including nuclear enrichment - to later talks toward a “final deal.”
“President Trump has made his redlines in negotiations clear. Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and they must turn over their enriched uranium. Any agreement must contain these items because the President will only accept a deal that puts America First," A White House official said, responding to the report.
Iran and the United States appeared to move closer Saturday to a framework to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump said an agreement had been largely negotiated and regional leaders urged Washington to accept a deal.
The latest signs of movement followed a flurry of regional diplomacy involving Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, as several Middle Eastern leaders urged Washington to accept a deal and prevent a renewed escalation.
Trump said in a Truth Social post that an agreement involving the United States, Iran and several regional countries had been “largely negotiated” and was awaiting finalization.
“Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,” Trump said, adding that “the Strait of Hormuz will be opened.”
Trump said the statement followed what he called a “very good call” with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain concerning Iran and “a Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to peace.”
He also said he had spoken separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing that call as having gone “very well.”
Trump's remarks came after Iran submitted a revised proposal to the United States through Pakistani mediators to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with a US response expected by Sunday, Reuters reported citing two Pakistani sources familiar with the negotiations.
Several Middle Eastern leaders involved in Trump’s call urged him to accept a deal with Iran, Axios reported citing a source briefed on the call. A regional source said the message from Arab and Muslim leaders was: “Please stop the war for the benefit of the whole region.”
Reuters separately reported citing a Pakistani security official briefed on Pakistani army chief Asim Munir’s visit to Tehran that an MoU was being “fine-tuned” to end the US-Iran war.
The official said Munir’s visit had made “significant progress” on points discussed in the Islamabad talks, describing the interim deal as “fairly comprehensive to terminate the war,” while cautioning: “It is never over till it is done.”
The Pakistani military said in a statement Saturday that negotiations conducted during Munir’s visit, after he returned to Islamabad as a mediator, had produced “encouraging progress toward a final understanding.”
'A deal very far and very close'
In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the parties were finalizing a 14-point memorandum of understanding that would create a temporary framework for diplomacy.
Parliament Speaker and head of Iran’s negotiating team, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, recently appointed Baghaei as the team’s spokesman.
Speaking on state television Saturday, Baghaei stressed that “Iran’s focus at this stage is on ending the war.”
Under the proposed arrangement, he said, Iran and the United States would spend 30 to 60 days after signing the memorandum negotiating the details of the most contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian assets and disputes over the Strait of Hormuz.
Baghaei nevertheless cautioned against assuming a breakthrough was imminent. “It cannot be said that an agreement is near,” he said, adding that the differences between Tehran and Washington are “so deep and extensive” that no one can expect several rounds of meetings over a few weeks or months to necessarily produce results.
In a phrase that quickly circulated across Iranian media and social platforms, Baghaei summarized the uncertainty surrounding the talks by saying: “The agreement is both very far and very close.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also struck a cautious tone Saturday, saying “some progress” had been made in talks on Iran and suggesting there could be news soon, while warning that no breakthrough was certain.
“There may be news later today. I don’t have news at this very moment, but there might be some news a little later today,” Rubio told reporters in New Delhi. “There may not be. I hope there will be, but I’m not sure yet.”
He added that there was “a chance” the United States could have something to say “whether it’s later today, tomorrow, in a couple days,” but said the issue needed to be solved “one way or another.”
The Financial Times reported citing mediators and people briefed on the talks that the United States and Iran were close to extending their ceasefire by 60 days under a framework that would gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz and launch discussions over Tehran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile.
'Collapse of talks still likely'
Despite these cautiously positive signals, skepticism remains widespread in both political circles and the Iranian public.
Fada-Hossein Maleki, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee who attended Saturday’s meeting between Asim Munir and Ghalibaf, accused Washington of undermining the talks.
In comments to the Iranian Students News Agency, Maleki claimed that both Iranian and Pakistani officials agreed that the United States itself had created many of the obstacles threatening the negotiations.
He specifically accused US envoy Steve Witkoff of providing “unrealistic reports” to Trump, saying Trump’s social media posts based on those reports had “created sensitivity in Iran and even upset our Pakistani friends.”
According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, the process “could collapse at any moment because of America’s maximalist approaches.”
The IRGC-linked Fars news agency reported citing a source close to the Iranian negotiating team that talks would fail unless the United States showed flexibility.
The source said Tehran would not discuss its nuclear program at this stage and would make any such talks conditional on US confidence-building measures.
Fars reported that the release of Iran’s blocked funds was among Tehran’s main conditions for starting negotiations, while rules for ship passage through the Strait of Hormuz remained another point of dispute.
Despite Washington accepting some of Tehran’s positions, the three issues remain unresolved and Iran is preparing other options, Fars reported citing the source.
Talks will fail, war will resume: poll
Public opinion inside Iran also appears deeply pessimistic about the prospects for a lasting agreement.
In an online poll conducted by the conservative Iranian website Tabnak, nearly 70 percent of more than 110,000 respondents predicted that no agreement would ultimately be reached and that the war would resume.
Trump kept the military option on the table Saturday, saying it was a “solid 50/50” whether the sides would reach an agreement or the US would “blow them to kingdom come.”
“I think one of two things will happen: either I hit them harder than they have ever been hit, or we are going to sign a deal that is good,” Trump said.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that a peace-related memorandum of understanding involving the United States, Iran and several regional countries had been “largely negotiated,” adding that final details were still under discussion and that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen, in a post on Truth Social.
"I am in the Oval Office at the White House where we just had a very good call with President Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of The United Arab Emirates, Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, and Minister Ali al-Thawadi, of Qatar, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, of Pakistan, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of Türkiye, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, of Egypt, King Abdullah II, of Jordan, and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, of Bahrain, concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran, and all things related to a Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to PEACE," Trump said.
"An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries, as listed. Separately, I had a call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, which, likewise, went very well. Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly. In addition to many other elements of the Agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened," he added.