Trump Says U.S. Reached 'Wonderful' Deal With Iran, Signing Expected This Weekend

In a dramatic statement made Thursday evening at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said an agreement had been reached with Iran and, according to him, would be signed over the coming weekend. “This is a wonderful deal,” the president said, adding that “the signing may be over the weekend.” Trump said, “I won’t be able to be there, but Vice President Vance and envoy Witkoff will.” According to him, the document is now in its “final drafting stages,” and the time and place of the signing will be announced soon.

The announcement of the expected agreement came just hours after President Trump said he had decided to cancel planned strikes in Iran overnight. “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 decided as President of the United States to cancel the strikes and bombings planned for this evening,” he explained. However, the president stressed that “the naval blockade will remain fully in effect until the agreement is completed.” The decision to cancel the strikes came after Trump had in recent days threatened broad attacks against Iran, including threats to seize the strategic oil island of Kharg and other energy infrastructure in the country.

Meanwhile, the Iranian state-linked news agency Fars reported overnight that there is a high chance the Iranian leadership will approve the agreement. “There is a high probability that the agreement will be approved by the Iranian leadership,” the agency said, noting that “the United States accepted Tehran’s demands.” President Trump said Thursday that he had spoken about the agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders in the region. “I spoke with Netanyahu and other leaders, the whole Middle East is happy,” the president said. Referring to the content of the agreement, Trump clarified that “under the deal we reached, Iran will not possess nuclear weapons.” This statement is one of the central pillars of U.S. policy toward Iran, and appears to be a major part of the emerging agreement.