A senior Trump administration official said a U.S.-Iran deal that could include reopening the Strait of Hormuz and steps to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program may be signed within days. But confidence is not absolute, with the official citing fractures inside Ir
The air around Washington’s negotiations shifted again on Friday—but this time, the uncertainty came right from the people closest to the deal.
A senior Trump administration official told reporters that the U.S. and Iran could sign an agreement in “the next few days.” The package. the official said. could include reopening the Strait of Hormuz and taking steps to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program. The timing sounded close enough to feel like it could happen any moment.
Then the official added a line that cut through the optimism: it is not locked in. The administration is not “100%” confident the deal will be signed at all. “I maybe would have said 75% this morning. It’s probably more like 80-85% now,” the official said. “But it’s not 100%.”
The official pointed to why that gap still exists. Iran’s system, the official said, is “very complicated,” with internal fractures within the regime. In the background of a war officials have described as nearing an end. the obstacle is not only what is on paper. but whether it survives the politics inside Tehran.
The day’s other signals leaned toward momentum anyway.
Earlier on Friday. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted on X that a “final. agreed upon text” of a deal between the U.S. and Iran “has been reached.” Sharif. who said Pakistan has acted as a mediator between the two countries throughout their war. added that Pakistan is “now working closely with both sides to finalize the next steps.” “Peace has never been this close as it is now. ” he wrote.
Sharif’s announcement matched the tone coming from U.S. leadership. President Donald Trump had said in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon that the U.S. had “just made a great settlement of the war with Iran,” adding that it was subject to the “finalization of documents.”
Iran’s top diplomat also tried to move the story closer to the finish line. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X prior to Sharif’s post that a preliminary deal with the U.S.—described as a memorandum of understanding—“has never been closer.”
Still, across the board, officials pushed back against public reporting that tried to fill in the gaps.
Iran’s Mehr News Agency had earlier reported 14 purported provisions in the draft deal. Those claims included commitments from the U.S. to lift oil sanctions, end its naval blockade and release Iran’s frozen funds.
Trump contradicted that specific public picture in an angry Truth Social post later Friday morning. He wrote that the public reporting about the deal has “NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing.”
The sequence matters: a deal may be signed within days, but the administration is deliberately withholding certainty and disputed details at the same time. If the final steps truly are near, the last challenge is not just agreement—it’s agreement that holds long enough to be formally signed.
As of Friday, the U.S. and Iran remain on the tightrope between a “next few days” window and an insistence that nothing is fully guaranteed until documents are finalized.
Trump administration Iran deal Strait of Hormuz nuclear program Abbas Araghchi Shehbaz Sharif Truth Social Mehr News Agency memorandum of understanding U.S. oil sanctions
So they’re gonna reopen the Strait of Hormuz?? That sounds like a good thing, right? Or is this just more talk.
I don’t get it. They say next few days but then it’s not locked in… that’s basically saying nothing. Also Iran’s “fractures” like okay so who’s really signing here? Feels sketchy.
The media keeps saying “nuclear dismantle” like it’s a checklist. If Tehran can’t agree internally, then what happens when the ink dries? Next few days is always “next few days” until it isn’t. I swear this will get delayed again and people will act surprised.
75% then 80-85% like it’s a weather forecast. I saw Sharif tweet “final agreed text” but I’m supposed to trust that? Pakistan mediating always makes me think somebody else is pulling strings. Reopen Hormuz means shipping costs go down maybe, so of course everyone’s rushing, but Iran complicated, politics complicated… yeah. Not convinced.