Trump says deal with Iran is close, 'no sticking points' left
Trump's statements followed a series of social media posts praising Iran's pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and progress made toward ending Iran's nuclear program.
Donald Trump
President Donald Trump implied Friday that the Iran peace deal was all but closed. In a statement to AFP, the Republican claimed there were no "no sticking points" left between Washington and Tehran.
Trump's remarks followed a series of social media posts praising Iran's pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the progress made in ending Iran's nuclear program.
"We're very close. Looks like it's going to be very good for everybody. And we're very close to having a deal," Trump said in a brief telephone interview with AFP from Las Vegas.
"The strait's going to be open, they already are open. And things are going very well."
Iran had previously announced it would open the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial sea route whose closure triggered a sharp rise in world oil prices, for the duration of a Middle East ceasefire.
On his Truth Social website, Trump said "THANK YOU!" to Iran, while insisting that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports would remain "in full force" until a peace deal was completed.
"Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again. It will no longer be used as a weapon against the World," Trump said in one of around a dozen Friday morning posts.
Highlighting further progress toward a deal, Trump also said Iran was removing sea mines from the strait with U.S. help.
Rounds of talks
Trump says the main U.S. demand is that Iran must never be able to develop a nuclear weapon, and on Thursday declared that Iran had agreed to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium.
Asked what the remaining sticking points for a deal were, Trump told AFP: "No sticking points at all."
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