Trump says US, Iran to sign peace deal in Europe this weekend; Tehran rejects his claims | World

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the United States (US) and Iran will sign a peace treaty in Europe likely this weekend, adding that Vice President JD Vance will represent Washington. His remarks came just hours after he promised calling off fresh strikes against the Middle East nation.

Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office of White House in Washington, the Republican leader also reiterated that Iran has agreed not to have a nuclear weapon as part of the deal. Further, he said he believes Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has personally approved the deal.

Regarding the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said the critical waterway would open after the deal is signed. He said Iran agreed to the peace treaty only because it has taken a “pounding”. 

“We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran,” Trump said. The US and Iran would “subject to finalization of documents, which should get done over the next few days, probably have a signing, maybe in Europe. It’s a great thing.”

“I don’t want to say a deadline, because if I say a deadline, you’ll say, ‘Oh, he didn’t meet the deadline’,” he noted.

Tehran denies Trump’s claim

Despite Trump claiming that Washington and Tehran have agreed over the peace deal, Iran denied it and said no final deal has been reached yet. It said negotiations remain unresolved and an agreement has not been reached so far.

“So far, Iran has not reached a final conclusion on the agreement,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in a statement.

Iranian media also denied the reports and claimed that the US President has claimed at least 38 times in the past two months about a peace treaty.

“Until Iran announces the matter of a potential understanding, any news from Trump on this subject should be regarded the same as his previous messaging,” the Tasnim news agency warned. 

The US-Iran war started on February 28. Since then, the two sides have made attempts for a peace treaty, but Iran’s nuclear programme and the control of Hormuz have always remained a contentious point. Iran wants a complete control on Hormuz and has maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian use. However, the US, along with Israel, want Iran to completely stop its nuclear programme, a proposal which Tehran is completely against. 

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