President Donald Trump accused Iran of leaking inaccurate terms of a proposed peace deal Friday morning, less than a day after walking back threats of a massive bombing campaign and takeover of Iran’s oil infrastructure.
“The terms that Iran leaked out to the Fake News have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “What they said, including their weak and pathetic statement on having a deal, bears no relation to the truth.”
Mehr News Agency, an Iranian state-run news agency, published a purported draft version of the agreement that would keep the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian control, unfreeze billions in Iranian assets and require the U.S. to withdraw its troops. And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei also told Mehr that while text has largely been finalized, the “the contradictory positions of the United States have always caused turbulence and disruption in this process.”
“Very dishonorable people to deal with,” Trump continued in his social media post, which did not include any new threats of a resumed military campaign. “With them, there is no such thing as dealing in good faith.”
Washington has become used to the back-and-forth that has characterized Trump’s messaging on the conflict — cycling from invoking the language of all-out war to touting prospective peace deals, sometimes on the same day.
And despite a ceasefire ostensibly being in place, the administration preceded Thursday’s threat with two days of air strikes on Iran, which followed the country downing an American helicopter.
Trump’s vow to hit Iran “VERY HARD” Thursday sent leaders from Gulf and South Asian countries scrambling to change his mind by assuring the president that a deal was close.
That, in turn, led to Trump telling reporters in the Oval Office later Thursday that “we just made a great settlement of the war in Iran and we’ll be subject to finalization of documents” over the next few days.