Published on 5/29/2026
US President Donald Trump is still determined to play with words and give positive signals coupled with matters that analysts say are contrary to what was agreed upon with Iran behind the scenes.
Trump announced on Friday that he had given orders to lift the blockade imposed on Iranian ports, saying that Iran must open the Strait of Hormuz immediately without restrictions or fees, and pledge not to possess a nuclear weapon.
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He said – in a post on the Truth Social platform – that he would hold an emergency meeting in the operations room with his senior advisors to make a final decision, but he confirmed that no money would be exchanged with Iran until further notice.
He added that only the United States and China are capable of extracting and destroying Iranian highly enriched uranium, and that they will do so in agreement with Iran and through the International Atomic Energy Agency.
According to the US President, Iran will remove the remaining mines in the Strait of Hormuz, while ships stuck in the Strait will begin returning to their homelands.
A mixture of truth and lies
However, Fars News Agency quoted officials as saying that Trump’s speech “mixes truth and lies in search of a false victory,” and that the memorandum of understanding “is being worked on and has not been finally approved by the Iranian National Security Council.”
The memorandum of understanding – according to what Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Tehran, Omar Hawash, reported from Fars Agency – did not touch on Iranian highly enriched uranium, neither from afar, nor did it speak clearly about stopping the war in Lebanon as part of the agreement.
The same applies to the navigation situation in the Strait of Hormuz, for which Iranian officials said that Tehran may not impose transit fees, but it may also receive sums of money in exchange for navigational services.
Before this and that, Fars Agency quoted officials as saying that Iran is “determined to receive $12 billion of its frozen funds as soon as the acceptance of the memorandum of understanding is announced, and the same after 60 days once the outstanding issues are agreed upon.”
Therefore, Trump’s speech represents “a unilateral declaration to obtain more concessions, while the memorandum of understanding is still under discussion and may be voted on by Iran a few days later, before announcing it jointly,” according to Hawash.
Therefore, Hassan Al-Bari, professor of international relations at Qatar University, says that Trump “continues to play with words,” even though the talk in general is positive and indicates a move toward an agreement.
The US President spoke about not delivering funds to Iran “until further notice,” and this means that he may lift the freeze on some Iranian funds after a day or days, and not appear to be lying because “further notice” is a vague word, as Al-Barari said in an analysis for Al Jazeera.
However, the positive side of Trump’s statements – according to Al-Barari – is that he is talking about a decision that may be taken within hours and not days, as was the case before today, which means that the two sides “do not want to return to war because they have tested the limits of each other’s power.”
Lifting sanctions is a prerequisite
Also, his talk about lifting the blockade on Iranian ports means that Iran has agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz, but it will not accept this without lifting the freeze on part of its funds, according to Al-Barari, with whom the director of the Arab Center for Iranian Studies, Muhammad Saleh Sedqian, agreed, saying that lifting the freeze on some Iranian funds was the basis for all the negotiations that took place.
In fact, Sadiqian considered – in his speech to Al Jazeera – that Trump “lives in a reality other than the one that Iran lives in,” stressing that Parliament Speaker Muhammad Baqir Qalibaf “agreed with the Pakistanis and Qataris to hand over $24 billion to Tehran in two installments, the first immediately after signing the agreement.”
Even the new protocol that Iran wants to apply to transit through Hormuz “has been postponed and not undone,” says Sedqian, stressing that lifting sanctions and unfreezing funds is “a condition that Iran will not give up in any agreement.”
As for Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Washington, Wajd Waqfi, she said that what Trump spoke about “may represent the broad outlines included in the proposed draft memorandum of understanding to resume negotiations between the United States and Iran, which is supposed to reach a final agreement within 60 days.”
Therefore, Waqfi adds, “This conversation does not mean reaching an agreement with the Iranians, because there is a wing in the American administration that includes Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, which wants to return to war, and another that seeks to negotiate, and the Al Jazeera correspondent says it includes J.D. Vance, Vice President, who recently said that there are differences between Washington and Tehran regarding some items, but they are close to reaching an agreement.”
Until Thursday night, Trump was leaning toward a peaceful solution, according to what was leaked. But the final decision will become clear after his emergency meeting with his senior advisors.
In this context, former Chairman of the Republican Party Committee in Washington, Patrick Marra, said that “Trump’s statements mean that we are close to the end,” but he stressed that the final position remains dependent on his meeting with his senior advisors.
In turn, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Tehran is not discussing anything related to uranium enrichment or nuclear materials during the current period, stressing the continued exchange of messages with Washington, without approving the possible memorandum of understanding yet.
