Trump weighs Iran deal as ceasefire extension nears

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]The tentative deal to end the war with Iran now awaits President Trump's approval. I'm Del Walters in Washington.

[00:00:05]You're watching Scripps News on the scene. US and Iranian negotiators have reached a draft deal to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The 60-day agreement would end the shipping restrictions on the strait.

[00:00:17]It would also require Iran to remove all mines within 30 days. In return, US would lift sanctions on sales [music] of Iranian oil. Now, Iran already out with a stark warning if President Trump does not sign the agreement and end the war.

[00:00:31]Scripps News White House correspondent Jacob Ward Schwartz joins us now live from the North Lawn with the latest. And Jacob, another working deal. And once again, uh word from Iran comes with a warning. What is the latest messaging from the White House about this emerging deal?

[00:00:45]>> Well, good afternoon, Del. President Trump meeting with his national security team in the situation room this morning as he debates whether to give his final sign-off to this deal we've been reporting on all week. Now, the description the president provided of the memorandum of understanding squaring pretty close to what we've heard from our sources throughout this past week.

[00:01:07]As you noted, the deal, which has not yet been agreed to, would extend the ceasefire for 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic, according to the president, with unrestricted no unrestricted shipping, no tolling, while Iran would also work to disarm or perhaps detonate any mines that are remaining on the strait. In exchange, the United States would lift the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, something the president said would be happening quite soon. Now, the president in his Truth Social post this morning also suggesting there might be some new conditions as a part of this deal that we had not previously understood to be a part of this specific agreement. And those conditions might be a bit of a tricky pill to swallow for Iranian officials. Uh number one, that Iran agrees never to acquire a nuclear weapon. That's probably not such a hard pill to swallow that Iran has never claimed that it has uh plans to use its nuclear program for weapons, rather only for energy purposes. Of course, a number of Western countries doubt that assessment. Secondly, another condition the president suggested that the enriched uranium already within Iran would be turned over or removed by the US in consultation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

[00:02:17]Trump also noting, quote, "No money will be exchanged until further notice."

[00:02:22]Again, some of those points certainly something Iranian officials will take issue with. We'll talk a little bit later about what we're hearing on the Iranian side of the equation. But, US officials thus far have continued to project optimism about the likelihood of reaching the steel even as they stress that nothing is set in stone until the president gives his final sign-off. We heard from Vice President J.D. Vance yesterday evening asked about how these talks are going, the prospects for reaching the steel. Here's what he had to tell reporters. Listen.

[00:02:50]>> It's hard to say exactly when or if the president's going to sign the MOU. We're going back and forth on a couple of language points. I do think that we've made a lot of progress here. It's very clear that I think the Iranians, they want a deal and they want to open the Straits of Hormuz. We want them to open the Straits of Hormuz. There are a couple of issues on the nuclear stuff, the the the highly enriched stockpile and also the question of enrichment. So, you know, we're going back and forth with them. We do think they're negotiating at least so far in good faith and we're making some progress. Hopefully, we'll continue to make progress. The president will be in a position where he can endorse the agreement, but obviously that's still TBD.

[00:03:30]>> Still TBD according to the vice president. I can tell you just in the past few minutes, a Marine has appeared outside the doors to the West Wing. That means the president is back in the Oval Office, no longer in the Situation Room.

[00:03:41]We'll certainly be keeping an eye on his Truth Social profile to see if he makes any news about the sign-off on this agreement, Phil.

[00:03:48]>> Jacob, also that stark warning coming out of Tehran. What more can you tell us about what Iranian officials are saying?

[00:03:56]>> Uh well, we've heard both publicly from some key officials involved in these negotiations, as well as from state media within Iran, who of course often are are sharing talking points shared by officials within the country. Um we do know that there is some difficulty parsing exactly, you know, who is empowered to make these decisions within Iran. That's something US officials have said has led to some of the difficulties in these negotiations over the past several months. We know the supreme leader must give his final sign-off, but there are a number of other officials who are involved in these negotiations.

[00:04:26]So, it can be unclear exactly how much weight to give any of these statements that we're seeing. What we do know is that Fars, a state-based outlet affiliated with the IRGC, has noted that Iran has yet to give its final sign-off to the deal and suggested that some of the statements the president made on Truth Social this morning are not correct and that there are some components of this deal that the president intentionally omitted. Among the ideas or the claims from the president that they're disputing, first, the idea that Iran has to relinquish its enriched uranium. Indeed, we've heard from some senior Iranian lawmakers throughout this week suggesting that is something that they are not planning to do at all. Secondly, there are remaining questions about the exact mechanism as to how the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened to traffic and when the blockade would be lifted. The speaker of Iran's parliament stating bluntly, quote, "No action will be taken until the other side acts." The United States has said something similar that the blockade will not be lifted until traffic is reopened. So, this is a little bit of a a game of chicken here awaiting to see which side is willing to take steps first. And also importantly, Fars is reporting that Iran's agreement includes the release of $12 billion of frozen Iranian assets. Again, the president's post suggested that there would be no exchange of money. So, that's a pretty key detail that Iran says is in the deal, the president says is not in the deal. We are certainly waiting to see exactly how you square that circle. One last sort of topic to keep an eye on, Iranian officials have for days now suggested that the situation in Lebanon should be addressed by this deal. As we know, there is in theory some sort of ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, though Israel has continued and in fact escalated its attack on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon this week. US officials have insisted that the Israel-Lebanon issue is distinct from the US-Iran conversation, but Iranian officials insist that that is a part of this conversation. We do know that there are talks between the United States, Israel, and Lebanon happening at the Pentagon today. So, that's another angle that we'll be keeping an eye on, see how it factors into all of this. So.

[00:06:27]>> This is Scripps News White House correspondent Jacob Garten Schwartz for us live in the North Lawn. Jacob, thank you very much.