US President Donald Trump will meet with his cabinet later today at a critical moment in negotiations aimed at ending the conflict with Iran, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The agency notes that the meeting will take place just days after he said that his administration and Tehran "have largely agreed" agreement, although the future of the negotiations is still uncertain.
As he prepares to meet with his closest aides, Trump exudes confidence that he is on the verge of concluding a deal that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and give him a convincing argument that Iran's nuclear capabilities have been reduced enough to declare victory, thereby ending a conflict that has become politically unpopular with Republicans, the AP points out.
As things stand, however, Trump also risks the war he himself decided to start ending with an unsatisfactory ending.
The upcoming agreement postpones the resolution of many important issues until later and has already exposed the American president to sharp criticism - even from some of his own supporters - that hardliners among Iranian leaders will emerge from the conflict defeated but with great self-confidence. All of this comes as the midterm elections that will determine who will control Congress loom large, and Republicans are concerned that rising costs and fuel prices are dampening sentiment among American voters.
The talks became even more complicated after U.S. forces on Monday carried out what the Pentagon described as "defensive" strikes on missile bases and mine-laying ships in southern Iran. The U.S. said it acted with "restraint" given the weeks-long ceasefire, while Iran denounced the actions as a sign of "bad faith and unreliability".
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that talks with Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and extend the ceasefire - a period that the administration says can be used to refine the details of the nuclear agreement - would continue for several more days. "Either there will be a good deal with Iran or there will be no deal", Rubio told reporters.
Yesterday, Trump complained on social media that even if Tehran offered a complete surrender, the media would present the end of the conflict as a "masterful and brilliant victory" on Iran.
While Trump claims that a deal is within reach, there appear to be significant differences between the United States and Iran on several key issues.
Trump has also come under criticism from some of his own party, including Senators Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Ted Cruz of Texas, who have said the terms appear too favorable to Tehran.
They oppose some aspects of the agreement that have become public knowledge and that they say are too similar to the nuclear deal reached with Iran by Democratic President Barack Obama, which Trump scrapped during his first term.
Under the potential deal, Tehran would agree to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium - a key demand of Trump - in exchange for sanctions relief. This was stated by two regional officials and a senior Trump administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A regional official with first-hand knowledge of the negotiations said that the way Iran would part with the uranium would be the subject of further talks within a 60-day period. Some of the uranium would likely be diluted and the rest transferred to a third country, he said.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity - just one short technical step from the levels (90 percent purity) needed to create weapons. Iran has not publicly committed to giving up its uranium.
On Monday, Trump said in a post on his social media account "Truth Social" that uranium believed to be buried under nuclear sites hit by US airstrikes last year would be handed over to the US or "destroyed on site or at another acceptable location, with the US Atomic Energy Commission or its equivalent witnessing such process and event." The comment signaled a softening of Trump's previous insistence that the US take control of Iran's uranium stockpile.
Another key issue that remains unresolved is whether the ceasefire will cover Israeli operations against the pro-Iranian armed movement "Hezbollah" in Lebanon. Iran insists that Lebanon must be included in any ceasefire agreement negotiated with the United States.
The administration appears to be leaving some room for maneuver on the Lebanon issue. The memorandum of understanding being drafted calls for a ceasefire between the United States and its allies and Iran and its proxies in the region, such as "Hezbollah," but also emphasizes Israel's right to take action against immediate threats and in self-defense.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced yesterday that the Israeli military is "expanding its operations" in Lebanon.
On Monday, Trump said that any deal to end the conflict with Iran must include a requirement that several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan, join the Abraham Accords - the agreements brokered by Washington during Trump's first term that aim to normalize diplomatic and economic relations with Israel.
Trump's optimism that other Middle Eastern and Muslim countries could soon join the Abraham Accords may be overly ambitious.
For example, Saudi Arabia, the most significant power in the Arab world, insists that a guaranteed path to the creation of a Palestinian state remains a precondition. This is something that Israel strongly opposes.
Trump insisted in a weekend phone call with the leaders of America's Middle Eastern allies that these countries join the Abraham Accords.