US President Donald Trump declared on Thursday that Washington had reached a "great settlement" with Iran to end the war, saying documents were in "pretty final shape" even as Tehran pushed back sharply, insisting no final decision had been made.
"We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, and we're going to be subject to finalization of documents. We should get done over the next few days. We'll probably have a signing maybe in Europe... when oil comes down, everything else comes down," Trump said.
"Most importantly, we have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the whole purpose of what we had to go through to get this." he added.
Asked why he was confident the deal would be finalised, Trump said Iran had been hit hard and wanted an agreement more than he did.
"They have taken a pounding like very few people could take, and they want to make the deal a lot more than I do," he said. "Everybody's approved the deal. Now we'll get it finished up."
He also described the shift in Iran's negotiating team as tantamount to a regime change, calling the current leadership "a smarter level" that "has reason."
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Iran, however, flatly rejected Trump's characterisation.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Thursday that Tehran had not yet made a final decision on any possible agreement and would not compromise on its "red lines," Reuters reported, citing Iran's IRNA news agency.
Baghaei added that reports of a time and place for a signing remained speculative, and that the US had repeatedly changed its positions during negotiations.
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Iran's Foreign Ministry went further, directly rejecting Trump's claim that "everyone in Iran has approved the deal," including the Supreme Leader, saying no one had accepted it and "no agreement has been reached," per Fars news agency.
Iran also denied Trump's assertion that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen upon a deal signing, with the spokesperson stating it "remains closed" under Iranian authority and "safe passage is not possible."
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