After a two-hour meeting in the White House situation room, Donald Trump did not make the “final decision” on the agreement with Iran, which he had instead announced before the start of the meeting. The summit ended with a “no stalemate”, a new stop just when the signing of the agreement between the USA and Tehran seemed one step away.
What awaits Trump?
According to sources close to the presidency, Trump will sign an agreement only if it is beneficial for America and if his red lines are respected. The tycoon’s either/or was also confirmed by Alayna Treene, CNN correspondent from the White House: “President Trump will only make an agreement if it is advantageous for America and respects its red lines. Iran will never be able to possess a nuclear weapon.”
The nuclear question
Before the meeting, Trump had insisted that a deal to extend the ceasefire would involve Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a pledge that Tehran would never develop a nuclear weapon and allowing the United States to remove its enriched uranium. But Iran has repeatedly rejected these conditions and the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, declared that the ongoing negotiations have a limited scope and do not include the atomic issue. A climate of uncertainty and tension in which the words of the American Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also fit: “The USA is more than capable of resuming the war against Iran. Washington remains faithful to its priorities in terms of international security; we still have global obligations to ensure that Tehran does not equip itself with atomic bombs”.
The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz
Trump has speculated that a deal could push the United States to lift the naval blockade on Iran, allowing the strategic oil and gas route to reopen, but negotiations remain stalled. Meanwhile, Iranian “Revolutionary Guards” fired warning shots at four vessels in the Strait of Hormuz for unauthorized transit.
The Lebanese front
On the Lebanese front, tension is very high, with Israel having extended military operations and evacuation orders to over thirty locations in the south, including some areas near Tyre, to strike Hezbollah. Recent raids in the Tire region killed eleven people, including a rescue worker and a Syrian citizen, and injured eight others. This attack aggravates a dramatic toll: 121 rescuers have died since the beginning of the conflict, while Unicef reports that in the last week the offensive has killed or injured an average of eleven children a day. Hezbollah responded by intensifying fire and launching rockets towards northern Israel, claiming at least 22 attacks against IDF infrastructure and soldiers.