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The Trump administration has made a significant concession by agreeing to allow Iran to maintain its civilian nuclear power program as part of a prospective peace deal. According to a senior White House official, the US is not opposed to civilian nuclear energy in Iran but is focused on preventing any infrastructure that could facilitate a shift to nuclear weapons development. The official cited the United Arab Emirates' civilian nuclear program as a model that cannot be weaponized. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) requires Iran to destroy its current stockpile of nuclear material on-site and remove it from the country, with the US and China tasked with excavating deeply buried fissile material. While details on safeguards against weaponization remain unclear, any Iranian move toward nuclear weapons would collapse the agreement. The deal, which may be signed as early as Sunday in Geneva, includes a 60-day ceasefire to finalize details with Iran, the US, Israel, and Lebanon, and promises to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the US blockade. Economic reintegration for Iran is contingent on compliance. President Trump criticized Iranian leaks about the terms, calling them false, while Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend the signing. The US expresses 80-85% confidence in the deal's signing, signaling a potential breakthrough in US-Iran relations.
Donald Trump has agreed to let Iran retain its civilian nuclear program in a major concession as the two sides say they are closer than ever to reaching a peace deal.
A senior White House official said: 'We're not bothered at all by the idea of civilian power plants in Iran; what we're bothered by is the type of infrastructure that would allow them to jump from civilian power generation to nuclear weapons development.
' The official pointed to how the United Arab Emirates has a civilian nuclear power program that could not be turned into a bomb-making operation. The revelation indicates that the Trump administration has given Iran the green light to hold onto its civilian nuclear power plants as long as those sites cannot be used to create a nuclear weapon.
What safeguards would be put in place to prevent Iran from scaling up its nuclear power plants to bomb-making facilities is unclear, but any steps taken by the Islamic Republic to make a nuclear weapon would derail any potential deal. Trump has long stressed that any end to the war would be predicated on Iran giving up its nuclear capabilities, particularly its uranium enrichment labs that US intelligence claims can make weapons-grade fuel.
The MOU mandates that Iran's current stockpile of nuclear material be destroyed on-site and then taken out of the country. Trump has said that only the US and China can dig up the deeply buried fissile material. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that the 'final text' of a peace deal between the US and Iran 'has been reached.
' The Trump administration will allow Iran to maintain its civilian nuclear power program should it abide by the stipulations outlined in a recently proposed memorandum of understanding, a senior White House official said on Friday The official said that most of Iran's government, including hardliners, are on board with the proposal Once the MOU is signed, there would be a 60-day period without fighting so that Iran, the US, Israel and Lebanon can hash out specific details for a lasting peace deal 'Peace has never been this close as it is now,' he added. The official also said the deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the current US blockade targeting Iranian vessels.
The US is 80 to 85 percent certain that the deal would be signed, the official said, with reports indicating a ceremony planned for Sunday in Geneva. Many of the hardliners in the Iranian regime are on board with the proposed MOU, the senior White House official stated. The Islamic regime will be rewarded economically after the deal, the US official said.
'They do get reintegrated into the world economy, they're going to be rewarded for acting like a normal country rather than the largest state sponsor of terrorism,' the official said. 'That said, those benefits only accrue if Iran delivers. ' The call to clarify exactly what is in the MOU came after the President fumed at Iranian officials for leaking the terms, saying what they put out is not the official stance of US negotiators.
'The terms that Iran leaked out to the Fake News have nothing to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,' Trump wrote on Friday morning. 'What they said, including their weak and pathetic statement on having a deal, bears no relation to the truth. ' Vice President JD Vance is reportedly expected to attend a signing ceremony for the MOU in Geneva over the weekend.
The administration has said on countless occasions over the past months that a deal was close at hand. But this time, there may be more traction as Vice President JD Vance is expected to sign a deal in Europe as soon as this weekend. Four US Air Force C-17 transport planes flew to Europe on Thursday, carrying equipment for a possible VP trip to Geneva, where a signing ceremony is planned in the coming days, Axios reports.
The MOU between the US and Iran to halt the war could be signed as soon as Sunday, a source told Reuters, the same day as Trump's birthday.
'We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran,' Trump told reporters on Thursday. 'The documents are in pretty final shape, so we'll see. It should be done over the next few days. We'll probably have a signing, maybe in Europe, and it's a great thing.
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