The White House on Thursday confirmed that US and Iran negotiators have reached an agreement on a memorandum of understanding that will extend an ongoing ceasefire by 60 days, during which the sides will hold talks on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program.

However, a statement attributed to US sources that the White House sent to querying reporters clarified that US President Donald Trump still needs to sign off on the MoU.

A Channel 12 report — which was confirmed by the White House — quoted a US official as having said that Trump wants to take a couple of days to think about it before deciding whether to approve the MoU.

However, a diplomat from one of the countries involved in the mediating process told The Times of Israel that the Channel 12 report mischaracterized the state of negotiations and that a final okay from Iran was still needed as well.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news outlet cited a source close to Tehran’s negotiating team who also denied that the Islamic Republic had actually given its final approval of the MoU. The source claimed that the text of the agreement was still being finalized and that Iran would publicly announce its approval if and when it comes.

Israel did not issue an official response to Thursday’s developments, but Channel 12 cited senior Israeli sources who also maintained that Jerusalem has seen no indication that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has approved the terms and that therefore “Trump has nothing to approve” at this stage.

Even the Channel 12 report appeared to hedge, first citing a “very senior American source” who said the terms of the MoU were agreed “by all levels” of the Iranian leadership before clarifying that “we will have to see” whether Khamenei has indeed approved it.

It was unclear whether the White House decided to confirm the Axios report as a means to pressure Iran to get on board or whether Tehran had indeed privately given its approval of the MoU but was holding off on a public announcement until Trump gives his own authorization.

Hormuz reopens, nuclear talks commence

The Axios report, confirmed by the White House, offered details of the MoU that were largely the same as those leaked earlier this week after Trump on Sunday declared that a deal was nearly complete.

In addition to the 60-day extension of the ceasefire — which brought a halt to the US-Israeli war against Iran after 40 days of fighting that began on February 28 — the White........

© The Times of Israel