The Trump administration responded to the emergence of the alleged proposal, saying on social media, “This report from Iranian controlled media is not true and the [memorandum of understanding] they ‘released’ is a complete fabrication. Nobody should believe what Iranian state media is putting out. FACTS MATTER.”

President Donald Trump discussed the ongoing negotiations during Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.

“It’s got to be perfect,” Trump said. “I didn’t do this to get a crummy agreement.”

The two sides have engaged in intense negotiations for several weeks, but neither side appears willing to budge on their non-negotiables.

Roughly 20% of the world’s traded oil typically flowed through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which the Gulf countries have access, and which Iran has effectively shut down for nearly three months since the outset of the war, causing negative effects on the global economy.

Iranian forces have fired upon commercial and U.S. Navy vessels sporadically over the last several weeks, since President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire agreement on April 7. The agreement, which was only scheduled to last three weeks at the outset, specifically called for Iran to allow ships to transit the strait, but it hasn’t lived up to that part of the deal. The Trump administration has maintained that the ceasefire is still in effect despite multiple instances where U.S. forces came under Iranian attack and had to defend themselves.

U.S. forces most recently came under Iranian fire on Monday.

The president said, “The Strait is going to be open to everybody. It’s international waters. We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it.”

While the administration disputed reporting from Iranian state media, the president has said recently that the two sides are progressing toward a deal, though he’s not in a rush to get an agreement that meets the U.S.’s demands.

Trump also said the upcoming midterm elections will not impact his decision-making when it comes to a deal with Iran, though the high gas and grocery prices likely hurt his party’s chances in November’s elections if they stay at current levels.

“They thought they were gonna out-wait me. You know, ‘We’ll out-wait him. He’s got the midterms,” Trump said. “I don’t care about the midterms.”

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE US-IRAN PEACE DEAL BEING NEGOTIATED

It appears that the two sides are working toward a short-term agreement that focuses primarily on reopening the strait and will call for additional negotiations to address other issues, including Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missile arsenal, and its support for proxy groups across the region.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday, “I think it’s a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits opened. It’s a very real, significant time limit of negotiation on the nuclear matter, and hopefully we can pull it off.”

Israeli officials have broadly spoken out against a U.S.-Iran deal, especially one that could curb their ability to continue their operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. They have argued that their military objectives have not yet been reached, while U.S. officials have said the opposite.

Trump said during the cabinet meeting he would not be comfortable with Russia or China taking possession of Iran’s highly enriched uranium, which the U.S. wants Iran to hand over to a responsible party.