Iran seeks deal with US, but Trump says terms aren’t right yet

President Donald Trump said on August 17 that Iran wants to strike an agreement with the United States, but the terms being offered don’t meet Washington’s requirements. The statement effectively confirmed what observers had suspected for weeks: the diplomatic window opened by a June memorandum of understanding between the two countries is closing fast. The MOU, signed on June 17 by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, was supposed to be a framework for re-establishing peace and normalizing relations. It included provisions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and set a 60-day timeline for deeper discussions on sanctions relief and nuclear commitments. That 60-day clock has now run out with little to show for it. Sanctions pressure is intensifying Washington has sanctioned over 100 vessels tied to Iran’s maritime operations in 2026 alone, targeting the shipping infrastructure that Tehran relies on to move crude oil to buyers, primarily in China. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent raised the stakes further on August 20, signaling that the US could impose what he described as the harshest sanctions in history against Iran. At one point during negotiations, a reconstruction fund of ...