President Donald Trump on Sunday forcefully defended the emerging U.S.-Iran peace framework as “THE EXACT OPPOSITE” of former President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal, insisting Tehran would receive no sanctions relief or economic concessions unless it surrendered its enriched uranium and permanently abandoned any path toward a nuclear weapon as negotiators worked to finalize what administration officials described as a nearly completed agreement.
In a pair of Truth Social posts on Sunday, Trump blasted critics attacking the emerging agreement as “losers” while arguing that any deal reached by his administration would stand in stark contrast to the Obama-era nuclear accord, which he has long denounced as a disastrous concession that financially empowered the Iranian regime while leaving it on a path toward a nuclear weapon.
“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote Sunday afternoon.
Trump stressed that the agreement was still being finalized before dismissing critics attacking the emerging framework.
“Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet,” Trump wrote. “So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about … I don’t make bad deals!”
Earlier Sunday morning, Trump blasted the Obama administration’s 2015 nuclear accord as “one of the worst deals ever made by our Country,” arguing it handed Tehran “a direct path to Iran developing a Nuclear Weapon.”
“Not so with the transaction currently being negotiated with Iran by the Trump Administration — THE EXACT OPPOSITE, in fact!” Trump wrote.
Trump said negotiations were proceeding in an “orderly and constructive manner,” adding that he had instructed negotiators “not to rush into a deal” because “time is on our side” while warning the U.S. naval blockade against Iran would remain “in full force and effect” until any agreement is finalized and signed.
“Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!” Trump wrote, reiterating that Iran “cannot develop or procure a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb.”
The remarks came as senior administration officials spent Sunday briefing reporters on the contours of a proposed memorandum of understanding that would reportedly reopen the Strait of Hormuz, extend the current ceasefire for 60 days, and launch broader follow-on negotiations centered on dismantling Iran’s nuclear program and removing its enriched uranium stockpile.
According to multiple reports citing senior administration officials, negotiators believe Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has approved the “broad template” of the emerging framework, under which Tehran has agreed “in principle” to dispose of its enriched uranium stockpile while negotiating a longer-term suspension and oversight framework governing uranium enrichment and broader nuclear activity.
Officials described the agreement as roughly 95 percent complete, though they cautioned the framework could still collapse as both sides continue haggling over final language, implementation details, and verification mechanisms.
Administration officials repeatedly stressed Sunday that Iran would receive no upfront sanctions relief, unfrozen assets, or broader economic concessions unless it fully complied with the agreement’s nuclear provisions.
“No dust, no dollars,” one senior administration official told reporters, referring to what Trump has frequently called Iran’s “nuclear dust” — its highly enriched uranium stockpile.
“The more they do, the more they get,” another senior administration official said during a background briefing. “If Iran doesn’t perform, they don’t get anything.”
Officials said the proposed framework would first reopen the Strait of Hormuz and require Iran to remove naval mines from the critical shipping lane, while the United States would gradually loosen its blockade on Iranian ports proportionate to Tehran’s compliance.
During the proposed 60-day framework, negotiators would then work toward a broader agreement focused on dismantling Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, removing both highly enriched and lower-enriched uranium stockpiles, and negotiating a longer-term moratorium on uranium enrichment.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday forcefully defended the negotiations amid mounting criticism from several Republican lawmakers and conservative commentators, warning that the emerging framework could resemble the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“There is no one who has been stronger on this issue than President Trump,” Rubio said during remarks in India defending the administration’s diplomacy push.
“The idea that somehow this president, given everything he’s already proven he’s willing to do, is going to somehow agree to a deal that ultimately winds up putting Iran in a stronger position when it comes to nuclear ambitions is absurd,” Rubio added.
Rubio emphasized that Trump’s “ultimate goal” remained ensuring Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon,” while making clear the administration still viewed military action as an available option should diplomacy fail.
“President Donald Trump wants to reach a solution,” Rubio said, explaining that Trump would prefer the crisis be resolved diplomatically “by the Department of State” rather than militarily “by the Department of War,” while warning that “the problem will be solved one way or the other.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu similarly sought on Sunday to project a united front with Trump amid mounting concern in Israel over certain aspects of the emerging framework.
Following a Saturday night phone call with Trump, Netanyahu said the two leaders agreed that any final agreement with Iran “must eliminate the nuclear danger.”
“That means dismantling Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites and removing its enriched nuclear material from its territory,” Netanyahu wrote on X.
Netanyahu also said Trump reaffirmed Israel’s “right to defend itself against threats on every front, including Lebanon,” as concerns persist in Israel that Hezbollah-related provisions could become part of a broader regional arrangement.
The White House has likewise sought to frame the emerging negotiations as part of a broader regional realignment effort, building upon the Abraham Accords brokered during Trump’s first term.
According to Axios, Trump told leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates during a Saturday conference call that he hoped additional countries throughout the region would eventually join the Abraham Accords following the end of the conflict with Iran.
Senior administration officials similarly described the emerging framework Sunday as potentially becoming “Abraham Accords Plus,” arguing the agreement could eventually pave the way for broader regional normalization, economic integration, and expanded security cooperation across the Middle East.
At the same time, administration officials repeatedly cautioned throughout the day that negotiations remain unfinished and could still unravel before a final agreement is signed.
“We are not there yet,” one senior administration official said Sunday while cautioning that the negotiations could still collapse. “We are not going to do a bad deal, that’s for sure.”
Another senior administration official acknowledged negotiators were still going “back and forth on specific details,” explaining that both sides remained locked in disputes over key wording and implementation language.
“Some words we care about. Some words they care about,” the official said.
Trump himself appeared to reinforce that dual-track pressure campaign Sunday evening, posting an image on Truth Social showing a bomb beneath a fighter jet emblazoned with his signature closing phrase: “THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!”
The image appeared to underscore the administration’s repeated insistence throughout Sunday that while diplomacy remains the preferred path forward, military options remain fully on the table should Tehran fail to finalize an agreement acceptable to Washington.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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