Trump says Iran agreed not to have nuclear weapons

President Donald Trump claimed to have obtained assurances from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons, as reports emerged that he had sent a tougher peace proposal to Tehran.

Any modifications to the proposal could further prolong a deal to formally end the war in the Middle East and open the Strait of Hormuz sea lane, after weeks of efforts to reach an agreement despite contentious rhetoric and occasional armed clashes.

The New York Times and Axios reported Saturday that Trump had sent Iran a new framework for action with "tougher" terms, though it was not immediately clear what that entailed.

Trump has said his priorities for any deal include preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which is blocked.

"The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They've agreed to that, and it was very interesting," he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview broadcast on her Fox News program on Saturday night.

But Tehran had already cast doubt on Trump's claims and the sides appeared to be far apart on their key priorities.

After Trump and U.S. officials earlier said they were close to an agreement, he adopted a less urgent tone and hinted at further military action in the Fox interview.

"I'm in no hurry"

"I'm in no hurry," he said. "Slowly but surely we're getting, I think, what we want and if we don't get what we want, we're going to end in a different way."

That echoed comments by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who told a defense summit in Asia on Saturday that Washington was "more than capable" of restarting the war if necessary.

Although daily attacks across Iran and the Gulf ceased since Tehran and Washington reached a temporary ceasefire in April, followed by historic talks hosted by Pakistan, outbreaks of armed conflict have continued.