President Donald Trump claimed that the ceasefire terms reported by Iranian state media on Friday were “fake news” and denied offering any monetary compensation to Tehran to secure its cooperation in ending the war.
Iranian state media began circulating a 14-point ceasefire agreement Friday morning that included more than $300 billion being paid out to Iran. Some of that, $24 billion, was Iranian assets frozen by international banking institutions, while the remaining $300 billion was to be paid by the United States as reparations for damage caused by months of airstrikes.
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Trump disputed those reports Friday morning on social media.
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“The terms that Iran leaked out to the Fake News have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,” he wrote. “What they said, including their weak and pathetic statement on having a deal, bears no relation to the truth. Very dishonorable people to deal with. With them, there is no such thing as dealing in good faith. AMAZING! Also, their totally rebuffed Drone attack last night against Indian Ships leaving the Hormuz Strait is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. They better get their act together, and FAST!”
Vice President JD Vance echoed the president’s comments on a post on X, pushing back on “fake information” about the potential deal.
“First, the Iranians are not receiving any cash, and no funds are being released for simply signing a deal or attending a meeting. The deal is structured to ensure that the US and its allies concerns are prioritized, and that if the Islamic Republic of Iran meets its obligations, then economic benefits will flow to them and to the entire region,” he wrote. “I’ve noticed a couple of bizarre things in the reporting over the last few hours. First, people who (rightly) said Donald Trump was a historic president a month ago now criticizing a deal based on unconfirmed media reports. Second, people who say you can’t trust a word said by the IRGC who apparently believe anonymously sourced social media posts.”
Furthermore, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, also claimed in a statement that the two sides have “never been closer” to signing a memorandum of understanding.
“Pending its finalization, the media should refrain from entering speculation about its content,” Araghchi continued. “In line with our responsible and transparent approach, all details will be shared with the public in due course.”
A senior Trump administration official told the Washington Examiner the memorandum of understanding text agreed to by the U.S. and Iran included only five points, as follows:
- 1. Nuclear material will be destroyed and removed
- 2. Nuclear program will be dismantled
- 3. No money is released until it performs
- 4. Strait of Hormuz will be open
- 5. No Iranian funding of terrorist groups
“This is what they have agreed to,” the official stated. “This is a performance-based deal.”
A second Trump administration official specified later in the day that the U.S. will destroy any material related to Iran’s nuclear program on site before transporting it out of the country.
That person set the confidence bar for signing the MOU itself in the coming days was at “80 or 85%,” up from roughly 75% confidence Friday morning.
“Most of the people that we’ve been speaking to, and most of the people who have authority within their system, want to sign this deal, but not everybody and those internal fractures are sort of working themselves out as they continue to try to get to a point where they can say yes to the deal,” the official concluded.
On Thursday, Trump himself suggested that Vice President JD Vance could travel to the Middle East to sign the deal as soon as this weekend but that it might still take some time to formalize the agreement between the U.S. and Iran.
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Still, the president seemed confident that his latest salvo of strikes and threats had finally cowed Iran into agreeing to U.S. terms for ending the war.
“They’ve taken a pounding like very few people could take, and they want to make the deal a lot more than I do,” he said at the time. “They will not have a nuclear weapon.”
