Peace in Iran Imminent?

The United States and Iran are close to agreeing to a framework for ending the war, Axios reported May 23. The framework reportedly includes the U.S. and Iran agreeing to a 60-day extension of their ceasefire.

• Both sides are to agree on opening their blockades of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran would be able to sell its oil freely and would have to clear mines that it planted in the strait.
• Iran is required to announce it will never pursue a nuclear weapon. Negotiations would resume over its nuclear program, including a suspension of uranium enrichment and removal of enriched uranium stockpiles.
• The U.S. would negotiate sanctions relief and unfreezing Iranian assets.
• If the framework leads to a final deal, then the U.S. would withdraw “forces that were mobilized in recent months” from “the region,” according to Axios’s paraphrase.
• The war between Israel and Hezbollah would also conclude.

U.S. President Donald Trump previously stated his goal was for Iran to dismantle its capacity to enrich uranium and end its sponsorship of proxy terror groups. If the Axios report is accurate, it appears President Trump has relented on both demands. In certain respects, the current deal framework actually appears remarkably similar to President Barack Obama’s 2016 Iran nuclear deal.

• President Trump withdrew from that deal during his first term, claiming the Obama-era deal was a bad one that helped Iran get a nuclear bomb. Yet it appears he is placing America back in the same position.

We wrote in the April 2025 issue of the Philadelphia Trumpet:

How far will the Trump administration go in pursuing a “verified nuclear peace agreement”? Opting to end Iran’s nuclear program with a “piece of paper” ignores the reality of Iran’s fixed goals. …

The only motivation the Iranians have to sign a paper limiting their nuclear program is if it enables them to continue their perpetual war more successfully than an open dash toward reaching their nuclear ambitions. That is why [Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei signed the Obama deal.

President Trump pulled America out of the 2016 deal because he could see its flaws. But it appears he does not realize how committed Iran is to its course and how it would take advantage of any agreement signed with the West.

To learn more read “Does Trump Want an Iran Nuke Deal?”