“Trump Is No Longer Interested” .. Washington Closes the Door on Returning to the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran
Al-Taj News – The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has settled on continuing the policy of economic pressure on Iran and is now prepared to wait to see whether it will bear fruit, at a time when mediators’ efforts to bring Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table are faltering.
The newspaper quoted informed sources as saying that the Trump administration has repeatedly told mediators that it does not want to return to the terms of the memorandum of understanding reached with Iran last June, noting that the U.S. president is no longer interested in the memorandum, which came under criticism in the United States for being lenient toward Tehran.
The White House spokesperson told the newspaper that Trump is currently focused on intensifying economic pressure on Iran, and that there are no talks or dialogues currently underway or scheduled with it, adding that the naval blockade remains fully in effect.
She said that the “economic outcast” operation is underway with the aim of cutting off what she described as every remaining economic lifeline supporting the Iranian regime.
The Wall Street Journal quoted mediators as saying that they are trying to persuade Iran to ease its demands, warning that the United States will withdraw from the memorandum of understanding if this does not happen, and that the increasingly hardline positions of both sides have left mediators without a clear framework for resuming talks.
It also quoted sources as saying that Pakistani Army Chief General Asim Munir, who visited Tehran at the beginning of the week, left without making significant progress.
Pakistan had confirmed that Munir’s visit came as part of its ongoing efforts to mediate and prevent a renewed war, denying that the army chief had carried new U.S. messages to Iran. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said the talks addressed breaking the deadlock, resuming efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and returning to a path leading to regional stability.
Islamabad confirmed that it continues, in coordination with other countries, to mediate between the United States and Iran, while Pakistan- and Qatar-led efforts continue to resume navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and bring Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table.
In the same context, the Wall Street Journal quoted Arab officials as saying that they hope to resume the diplomatic track but fear that Iran may respond to Trump’s economic pressure campaign with a military attack.
The newspaper reported, citing sources, that Iran had sought to introduce amendments to the understanding with Oman that would give it greater control over navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran and Oman had announced a phased framework for managing navigation in the strait, including the establishment of a temporary joint corridor, alongside technical negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent corridor and arrangements for managing the strait in the future.
According to details of the negotiations, an alternative route to the historic seven-mile-wide corridor is being discussed, with the entry route and part of the exit route to lie within Iranian territorial waters. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi linked the activation of the joint route to the closure of what he described as the “southern route” adjacent to the Omani coast.
These disagreements come as Iran asserts its control over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States says it controls the movement of ships, as Tehran and Muscat seek to find a new formula for managing passage through the strait.
