Iran's semi-official Fars news agency directly disputes President Trump's claim that the nuclear deal will be signed on Friday, stating that the memorandum of understanding has not yet been finalized and that Trump's post is a pressure tactic on negotiating teams.
Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, has directly contradicted President Trump's claim that the nuclear deal will be signed on Friday. In a dispatch at 20:05 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported Fars stating that the memorandum of understanding has not been finalized and that the president's announcement is a pressure tactic aimed at negotiators. This marks the fourth consecutive denial from the same source this evening, each escalating in detail: at 20:05, Fars first warned of an 'image trap' for negotiators; a subsequent item quoted Iranian officials explicitly ruling out a Sunday signing; a third described Trump's insistence as an 'unusual test'; and the current dispatch asserts the memorandum is incomplete.
The Zioneer's timeline shows a rapid sequence of conflicting signals. At 19:50 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported President Trump announcing the deal would be signed on Friday and the Strait of Hormuz would reopen. At 20:56, The Zioneer carried that announcement again, summarizing the president's commitment to securing enriched uranium later. Within minutes, Fars began publishing a steady stream of rebuttals, each attributed to Iranian officials or the agency's own analysis. The source quality is consistent—Fars is a semi-official IRGC outlet—but the pattern of refutation has become more detailed across the thread, moving from a general warning to a specific denial of completion.
As The Zioneer reported on June 10, secret talks between the Trump administration and Tehran have been underway for weeks, with a senior US official saying on June 11, 'We think we have a deal.' The president himself stated on June 11 that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the Supreme Leader, had approved the emerging deal. Yet the Iranian side, speaking through Fars, has now denied the finality of the agreement four times in less than an hour.
The core question remains whether Fars reflects genuine indecision in Tehran, a negotiating tactic, or an attempt by hardline factions to undercut the diplomatic track. No official US response to Fars's latest report has been released. The memorandum's status—whether it has been initialed, is being finalized, or was never complete—remains formally unconfirmed by any independent source.
6 developments
- DevelopingTasnim editor-in-chief: chance of final deal with US is very, very low
- StrongIran's state news agency IRNA: no final deal text until Tehran approves
- StrongIran says it has not reached final conclusion on deal, warns of 'red line'
- StrongIran's Fars News: Tehran leaning toward approving US deal
Source and signal
- Internal intake