Trump Rejects Extension of 60-Day Iran Deal as Tensions Rise
WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — WEB DESK: US President Donald Trump has ruled out extending an interim understanding with Iran after a 60-day period for diplomacy expired without a broader settlement, adding to uncertainty over relations between Washington and Tehran and security in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump told reporters on Monday that Washington was not seeking an extension, saying Iran appeared unwilling to accept the type of agreement he considered necessary. Preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains a central US demand.
The 60-day period linked to the US-Iran understanding expired on Monday, August 17, without the two sides resolving major disputes. The June memorandum had been intended to halt hostilities and create a path toward resolving wider disagreements, but its implementation became increasingly contested.
Trump has also said there are backchannel contacts involving his administration and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. Reporting by Axios indicated that the Trump administration had sought an indirect channel to the increasingly influential Iranian force, with intermediaries helping transmit messages between the sides.
Iranian officials, however, have publicly rejected claims of secret negotiations. Iranian state-linked reporting said both the IRGC and Foreign Ministry disputed Trump’s characterization of such contacts.
Tehran has also challenged the significance of the 60-day deadline itself.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Washington’s alleged violations of the June memorandum had made discussion of such a deadline irrelevant. Iranian reporting quoted him as saying the memorandum itself did not establish a 60-day deadline.
The competing accounts underline the deep divisions between Washington and Tehran over both the status of the agreement and the prospects for renewed negotiations.
The diplomatic impasse comes amid continuing tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important energy corridors. Iran has warned it could adopt a more offensive posture in the strait if diplomacy fails, while Washington rejects Tehran’s claims concerning authority over the waterway.
The confrontation is also being closely watched by global energy markets because disruption to shipping through the strait could affect international oil supplies and prices.
Despite the sharp rhetoric, reports of indirect contacts suggest diplomatic channels have not disappeared entirely. For now, however, neither Washington nor Tehran has announced a breakthrough capable of replacing the expired framework.
