Iran war: Vance says deal close but 'not there yet'

The United States and Iran made good progress toward extending a ceasefire, but President Donald Trump was not yet ready to approve the memorandum of understanding. US sources reported agreement on a deal, while Vice President JD Vance said Washington was not there yet. Vance said the parties were close and that the United States could substantially set back Iran’s nuclear program. He identified sticking points in the MOU related to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and whether further enrichment would occur. Vance said the administration was going back and forth on language points and could not guarantee the agreement would be finalized. He expressed optimism that progress would continue and that Trump could endorse it, though timing remained uncertain.

"US Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that the United States and Iran had made good progress toward a ceasefire extension deal, but President Donald Trump is not yet ready to approve it. Hours after US sources said Washington and Tehran had agreed on a deal, Vance told reporters that Washington was "not there yet" on the agreement with Iran."

"Vance, however, added that the parties were close and that the US was in a position to substantially set back Tehran's nuclear program. According to Vance, there were a couple of sticking points in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran concerning its stockpile of enriched uranium and the question of further enrichment."

""It's hard to say exactly when or if the president is going to sign the MOU. We're going back and forth on a couple of language points," Vance said. "I can't guarantee that we're going to get there, but right now I feel pretty good about it. We've made a lot of progress here," he said."

""Hopefully, we'll continue to make progress and the president will be in a position where he can endorse the agreement, but obviously that's still TBD (to be determined)," Vance added."

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