Trump: “It’s a wonderful deal, we’ll sign soon” | Iran: “Likelihood of approval is high”

US President Donald Trump announced overnight Thursday that the United States and Iran are nearing the signing of a principles agreement, after, according to him, significant understandings were reached between the sides. At the same time, reports from Iran said that the leadership in Tehran is inclined to approve the agreement, but no final answer has yet been given. According to a report in the Iranian news agency Fars, “Given that the US agreed to the text proposed by Iran, the likelihood that the text will be approved by Iran is high.” However, it was emphasized that no official, final decision has yet been made in Tehran.

Trump himself said overnight that “as part of the wonderful deal we reached, Iran will never hold nuclear weapons,” and added that the agreement is in its “final drafting stages.” According to him, the signing is expected to take place in the coming days, apparently in Europe. Earlier, Trump issued a dramatic statement in which he claimed he had decided to cancel the strikes planned against Iran after understandings were reached at the highest levels in Tehran. “Based on the fact that the discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran were brought to the highest leadership level in Iran and approved, I am canceling the strikes and bombings planned against Iran for tonight,” Trump wrote. He said the “discussions and final points have been approved both in principle and in a great deal of detail by all parties involved,” including, according to him, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt.

Trump added that the naval blockade on Iran “will remain fully in effect until the deal is completed,” and said the time and place of the signing will be announced soon. Alongside the optimistic statements from Washington, much more cautious voices were heard in Israel. A senior Israeli official said that “Mojtaba Khamenei, to the best of our knowledge, has still not approved the agreement,” and added that in Jerusalem they “are not aware of reaching a final framework document.”

At the same time, Channel 12 reported that a situation assessment meeting held by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dispersed shortly after it began, following an “anticipated diplomatic call.” According to a source familiar with the details, Netanyahu is expected to speak with Trump about the developments. It was also reported that Trump’s announcement caught Israel’s political and security leadership by surprise, and that no advance warning was passed on by the Americans before the dramatic statement was published.