U.S. officials have indicated it could be days before Tehran accedes to President Trump’s tougher conditions for a deal that could end nearly three months of war.
Published May 31, 2026
President Donald Trump has called for changes to some terms of a proposal to end the US-Israel war against Iran, with a final deal still in sight, according to US media reports.
The New York Times reported on Saturday that Trump’s changes include tightening the terms of the deal, and that the U.S. has sent back a new framework for Iran to consider, according to people familiar with the process.
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The report said it was not immediately clear what the changes would entail. But Axios reported that President Trump wants to strengthen several aspects of the deal that he considers important, including what to do with Iran’s nuclear material.
A senior U.S. official told Axios that President Trump was informed that Iran’s response could take three days.
“They are literally in a cave and are not using email,” the official told Axios.
“There will be a deal. We’ll see if a deal is imminent. We’ll wait until the president gets what he wants. It could take a week, it could be less, it could be longer. We’re hopeful that we’ll get something by the turn of the week,” the official added.
Meanwhile, Iran’s chief negotiator said Sunday that Iran will not agree to any deal with the United States unless Iran’s rights are fully secured.
“We have no faith in the words and promises of our enemies. Our only criterion is to achieve tangible results before fulfilling our promise of return,” said Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf after being sworn in as re-elected parliament speaker.
The new arrangement could prolong negotiations between the parties for several days before a decision is made on whether to end the war that began after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
US officials told AFP that the proposal had been awaiting President Trump’s approval, but that he had not made a decision after Friday’s White House Situation Room meeting.
Richard Weitz, a senior fellow at NATO’s National Defense University, said that in the US-Israel war against Iran, “the longer there is no agreed-upon standard cease-fire, and perhaps ultimately a peace deal, the greater the risk of a resumption of dynamic operations.”
“The risks are moderate compared to the value of reaching an agreement. If we reach an agreement, both sides are happy and we stick to it rather than trying to amend it later, which could lead to further escalation,” he told Al Jazeera.
Trump said priorities for any deal would include agreeing that Iran would never develop a nuclear weapon and reopening the blocked Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil supplies pass.
On Saturday, Iran’s military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Command reasserted the country’s control over the strait, warning that foreign commercial and military ships would be targeted if they did not comply with regulations governing passage through the strategic waterway.
The Iranian government has also repeatedly stated that it has no intention of building nuclear weapons. In March 2025, former US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified before Congress that the US government “continues to assess that Iran is not producing nuclear weapons.”
