WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said the United States and Iran could finalize an agreement within the next week to extend an interim ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, casting the talks as close to a breakthrough even as fresh fighting in Lebanon and mixed signals from Tehran complicated the path.
Trump described the backchannel negotiations as “looking good,” while acknowledging that the talks had hit a temporary snag earlier in the day. “There was a little glitch today, but I turned that one around very quickly,” he said. According to the president, momentum faltered after Tehran objected to expanded Israeli military strikes in Lebanon. He said he intervened directly with both sides, pressing for an immediate de-escalation so the U.S.-Iranian dialogue would not collapse.
He framed a binding diplomatic accord as potentially more durable than continued military action. “A peace agreement with Iran could be even better than a military victory,” he said.
The comments come against decades of institutional mistrust between Washington and Tehran. Trump described Iran as an influential regional power and said domestic political considerations on both sides still constrain what either capital can accept. “It’s not an easy thing for them,” he said. “It’s actually not easy from our standpoint either. But we’re getting what we need to get.”
Negotiators, he indicated, are working toward a formal memorandum of understanding focused on lifting maritime restrictions in the Persian Gulf and guaranteeing safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. He suggested the document could be completed within seven days, while conceding that several points remain unresolved. “I still have to get a few more points,” he added, without specifying the outstanding concessions.
That optimistic timeline followed hours of diplomatic turbulence on Monday, when Iranian officials signaled a suspension of talks in protest of ongoing Israeli operations against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. The move raised concern among allied capitals that the opening was about to unravel. Trump moved quickly to counter reports that the process had stalled. In a social media post, he said technical discussions were proceeding at a “rapid pace,” though officials in Tehran did not immediately confirm that formal sessions had resumed.
He also claimed a parallel effort to steady the northern front of the wider regional conflict. Trump said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and secured a commitment that the Israel Defense Forces would refrain from ground incursions into central Beirut. Through regional intermediaries, he said, Hezbollah had given a reciprocal understanding to halt rocket and drone attacks across the border in exchange for a pause in targeted Israeli airstrikes against its senior command.
Diplomatic observers note that past informal truces between Israel and the Lebanese militia have often proved fragile once localized exchanges resume. Neither government has published the terms Trump described, and it remains unclear how any such understanding would be monitored or enforced.
The center of the current U.S.-Iran talks is the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s petroleum supplies pass each day. Extended disruption, or even a sustained rise in insurance risk, can tighten energy markets, raise shipping costs, and spill into broader economic volatility. For the White House, restoring normal traffic would be a visible diplomatic gain and a way to limit pressure on global supply chains. For Tehran, maritime arrangements are tied to sanctions relief, assurances against foreign military intervention, and recognition of its claims over regional waters.
Analysts caution that a seven-day timetable is an aspiration rather than a finished plan. Structural distrust remains deep: Washington and Tehran have cycled through talks, partial deals, and breakdowns for decades, and each side’s domestic politics make concessions costly. Iranian officials have not publicly matched Trump’s account of rapid progress, and the linkage he described between the Hormuz talks and the Lebanon front means a flare-up on either track could stall the other.
Even if a memorandum is initialed, its value will depend on whether verbal understandings become enforceable commitments at sea and on the ground. Shipping firms, insurers, and energy traders will look for evidence that vessels can transit without harassment and that both governments will stick to the terms once political attention moves on. Allied capitals, already unsettled by Monday’s reported suspension, are likely to treat any announcement as provisional until implementation is visible.
Trump’s case is that diplomacy can produce a more lasting result than sustained strikes. The coming days will test whether the glitch he said he reversed was a brief interruption or a sign that the remaining points are harder to close than the public timeline suggests.
