US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US and Iranian negotiators had “some pretty solid things on the table” and that a deal between the two countries could be reached on Monday.
“We are still a work in progress,” Rubio said during a visit to India.
He was speaking after President Donald Trump said he had asked negotiators “not to rush into a deal” after suggesting a deal was close.
This would involve an extension of the ceasefire by 60 days, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a plan for new negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
Oil prices fell sharply and Asian stock markets rose Monday on hopes of a deal.
“We’re still a work in progress. Like I said, you know, we thought we’d have news last night. Maybe today,” Rubio said Monday in the Indian capital, Delhi.
“So we have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of being able to open the straits,” he said, referring to the Strait of Hormuz – the crucial waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes and which Iran is blocking.
Cautioning “I wouldn’t interpret much into it,” Rubio said “it takes a little time to get a response from Iran.”
CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported that US intelligence services believe Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei – who was wounded in an Israeli strike on the first day of the war that killed his father and predecessor – is holed up in an undisclosed location, making communication with his envoys difficult and thus delaying the pace of negotiations with the US.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said over the weekend that the two sides were “very close and very far” from a deal.
According to U.S. media reports, the planned deal does not constitute a final settlement and instead leaves some of the thorniest issues to be negotiated later, including the scope and timing of Iranian sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian funds and Washington’s demands that Iran curb its nuclear ambitions.
The reported deal has divided Trump’s Republicans, with some publicly saying it is too soft on Iran.
Senator Ted Cruz said it would be “a disastrous mistake,” while Roger Wicker, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said a 60-day ceasefire would mean “everything accomplished under Operation Epic Fury would be for nothing!” »
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is a close Trump ally, also criticized any deal that would leave Iran seen as a dominant force in the region.
“One wonders why the war started,” he said.
Trump responded by saying he didn’t “listen to the losers, who criticize something they know nothing about.”
“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good deal,” he wrote on Truth Social.
The United States and Israel launched widespread strikes against Iran on February 28, sparking conflict in the Middle East. Iran responded by attacking Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf, and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. The move sent oil prices skyrocketing globally.
Shortly after agreeing a ceasefire in early April, the United States established a blockade of Iranian ports, which Trump said will remain “in full force until an agreement is reached, certified and signed.”
In his article published Sunday on Truth Social, Trump reiterated that Iran “must understand” that it cannot develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran has repeatedly stated that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Some reports in the US media suggest that the deal could lead to Iran agreeing to return its highly enriched uranium.
At the start of the war, Iran was estimated to have had around 440 kg (970 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% purity – a short process before being enriched to 90% weapons grade, which in theory could allow him to create a nuclear bomb.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told state television that Iran was ready “to assure the world that we are not pursuing nuclear weapons.”
