Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said a proposed agreement with the United States has “not yet been finalised,” directly contradicting President Donald Trump’s confident public statements.
Trump posted on Truth Social that “The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL.”
He added that “Our relationship with Iran is a much different and better one than previous Administrations have had,” signalling optimism about a broader shift in diplomatic ties.
Key mediator Pakistan said on Saturday that the deal was “likely expected” to be finalised within 24 hours, lending weight to Trump’s assertion that progress was imminent.
Trump also said his administration was looking “forward to working with Iran and the entire Middle East long into the future,” framing the potential agreement as a regional turning point.
However, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei expressed caution over the timeline, saying: “We will have to wait and see about the exact date of the signing of the memorandum of understanding, although it will not be tomorrow [Sunday].”
Iran’s foreign ministry had earlier said the signing would take place in the “coming days,” a notably vaguer formulation than the specific Sunday deadline Trump had publicly declared.
A significant point of disagreement concerns Iran’s nuclear programme, with Tehran’s foreign ministry stating that “at this stage, it has been decided that there will be no discussion of the nuclear issue.”
Trump, however, has indicated that the US would enter Iran and seize the regime’s “Nuclear Dust,” which he said would later be destroyed, a claim that sits in direct tension with Iran’s stated position.
Iran’s nuclear programme and its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium have long been at the centre of tensions with the United States and Israel, as well as a broader source of international concern.
Trump also threatened significant repercussions if the final negotiations collapsed, saying: “Hopefully, this process will all work out quickly, easily, and smoothly. If it doesn’t, we have the ultimate alternative, hopefully never to be used again.”
Iran has expressed wariness throughout the negotiation process, noting that prior talks have previously ended with the resumption of attacks rather than any lasting resolution.
US officials have also made clear that the economic benefits available to Iran under any agreement would depend entirely on Tehran meeting its obligations under the deal’s terms.
Technical-level talks between the two countries are expected to begin once a memorandum of understanding has been formally signed by both sides.