Donald Trump declares Iran breakthrough, but deadlock persists

US President Donald Trump has asserted that Iran has agreed to a key US demand that it will not develop nuclear weapons, even as conflicting reports suggest Washington has introduced a revised and tougher negotiating framework to Tehran.

Speaking on Fox News, Trump said Iran had effectively accepted the central condition of the talks. “The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that,” he said, without providing further details on the scope or verification of such an agreement.

The claim comes amid uncertainty over the status of negotiations, with reports from The New York Times and Axios indicating that the US has sent a modified proposal containing stricter terms. The contents of the revised framework have not been made public, and it remains unclear how Iran has responded.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf pushed back strongly, warning that Washington cannot be trusted and insisting that any agreement must fully guarantee Iran’s rights.

“Iran will not accept any agreement unless its rights are fully secured,” Ghalibaf said, highlighting deep mistrust that continues to shadow the diplomatic process.

Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is strictly civilian in nature, while the United States and its allies continue to suspect it could be used to pursue weapons capability — a core dispute that has long stalled progress.

The diplomatic standoff is unfolding alongside wider regional instability, including reported Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon targeting areas linked to Hezbollah, as well as reported US action against a Gambia-flagged vessel allegedly attempting to reach an Iranian port.

With parallel military tensions and contradictory diplomatic signals, the nuclear issue between United States and Iran remains unresolved, with no clear breakthrough in sight.

With agency inputs