{"id":397551,"date":"2026-04-17T20:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/397551\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T20:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:19:10","slug":"trump-says-no-sticking-points-at-all-predicts-deal-with-iran-could-come-in-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/397551\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says ‘no sticking points at all,’ predicts deal with Iran could come in days"},"content":{"rendered":"

US President Donald Trump signaled growing optimism Friday about a potential deal with Iran to end the war amid a temporary ceasefire, saying negotiators could meet as soon as this weekend and that an agreement may be reached within days \u2014 boldly claiming there were \u201cno sticking points,\u201d even as US and Iranian officials cautioned that major key issues remain unresolved.<\/p>\n

The US leader spoke with a series of news sites Friday and issued a long series of posts on his Truth Social network, following the Iranian announcement that it had opened the Strait of Hormuz as a response to the Israeli-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon, with Trump predicting a deal to permanently end the war in a matter of days and saying that the US would \u201cleisurely\u201d remove Iran\u2019s enriched uranium.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Axios news site<\/a>, Trump said he expects imminent progress following recent contacts with Iranian officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Iranians want to meet. They want to make a deal. I think a meeting will probably take place over the weekend. I think we will get a deal in the next day or two,\u201d he said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

While speaking to Reuters, Trump said that he thinks the deal \u201cwill go very quickly,\u201d saying, \u201cWe\u2019re getting along very well with Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In a separate interview with AFP, Trump struck an even more confident note, claiming there were \u201cno sticking points at all\u201d left in the negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very close. Looks like it\u2019s going to be very good for everybody. And we\u2019re very close to having a deal,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cthings are going very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA woman member of the Basij paramilitary, affiliated with Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard, holds her gun during a state-organized rally in support of the supreme leader marking National Girl\u2019s Day in Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n

Trump also pointed to developments in the Strait of Hormuz as a sign of progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe strait\u2019s going to be open, they already are open,\u201d he said, after Iran announced it would allow commercial shipping through the waterway for the duration of the current ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Nuclear dust<\/p>\n

In remarks to Reuters, Trump outlined a proposal for handling Iran\u2019s enriched uranium stockpile, saying the United States would work directly with Iran to retrieve it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to get it together. We\u2019re going to go in with Iran, at a nice leisurely pace, and go down and start excavating with big machinery\u2026 We\u2019ll bring it back to the United States,\u201d he said, adding that material he described as \u201cnuclear dust\u201d would be recovered \u201cvery soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran is believed to hold more than 900 pounds of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent purity \u2014 just a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels \u2014 making the issue one of the most contentious in the negotiations.<\/p>\n

Much of it is believed to be in underground nuclear sites bombed by the US last year, leading Trump to refer to it as \u201cnuclear dust.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tThis graphic image compares Iran\u2019s Fordo nuclear facility before and after the United States bombed the site on June 22, 2025. (AP Graphic\/Imagery by Maxar Technologies\/Graphic by Phil Holm)<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s claim was swiftly denied by Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran\u2019s enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere,\u201d Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV.<\/p>\n

Trump also pushed back on reports of a potential financial component to the deal, rejecting claims of a $20 billion arrangement involving frozen Iranian funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s totally false. No money is changing hands,\u201d he told Reuters.<\/p>\n

That denial appeared to contradict reporting by Axios, which said one proposal under discussion involved the US releasing $20 billion in frozen Iranian assets in exchange for Iran giving up its enriched uranium stockpile and agreeing to a moratorium on enrichment.<\/p>\n

Beyond the nuclear issue, Trump emphasized that any deal must address regional tensions, particularly regarding Israel.<\/p>\n

Make Israel safe<\/p>\n

He told Axios that the potential deal with Iran would \u201cmake Israel safe,\u201d stressing that Jerusalem would \u201ccome out great\u201d at the end of the war.<\/p>\n

In terms of Israel\u2019s conflict with Hezbollah, Trump said it \u201chas to stop. They can\u2019t continue to blow buildings up. I am not gonna allow it,\u201d echoing an earlier remark he made on Truth Social, where he said Israel was \u201cPROHIBITED\u201d from continuing to strike Lebanon amid a 10-day ceasefire.<\/p>\n

Despite those remarks, Lebanese media reported a strike that killed a motorcyclist after the ceasefire took effect. The IDF did not immediately comment on the reports.<\/p>\n

Serious negotiations required<\/p>\n

Despite Trump\u2019s optimism, both US and Iranian officials said significant gaps remain.<\/p>\n

US officials familiar with the talks told Axios that while negotiators are closing in on a three-page peace plan, gaps persist on critical issues, underscoring lingering uncertainty despite the president\u2019s confidence.<\/p>\n

And a senior Iranian official told Reuters that significant differences between Iran and the United States remain to reach a deal aimed at ending the war, adding that keeping the Strait of Hormuz open is \u201cconditional on US adherence to the terms of ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tVessels and a boat at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman, April 12, 2026. (Reuters)<\/p>\n

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said \u201cno agreement has been reached on the details of the nuclear issues,\u201d and serious negotiations are required to overcome differences.<\/p>\n

He said Tehran hoped that a preliminary agreement could be reached in the coming days with mediator Pakistan\u2019s efforts, with the possibility of extending the ceasefire to \u201ccreate space for more talks on lifting sanctions on Iran and securing compensation for war damages.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn exchange, Iran will provide assurances to the international community about the peaceful nature of its nuclear program,\u201d he said, adding that any other \u201cnarrative about the ongoing talks is a misrepresentation of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that \u201cthe passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reopening of the strait \u2014 a critical international shipping route \u2014 and a parallel ceasefire in Lebanon have been seen as key steps toward a broader agreement, after Tehran insisted that halting fighting there must be part of any deal.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Trump made clear that military pressure on Iran would continue until an agreement is finalized, telling both Axios and Reuters that the US naval blockade would remain in place until a deal is reached.<\/p>\n

Israel, which launched the military campaign against Iran jointly with the US at the end of February, is not represented at the talks.<\/p>\n

The ceasefire declared by Trump came with Israel\u2019s core declared goals of the war largely unfulfilled, including ensuring that Iran does not attain nuclear weapons, destroying its missile program, and creating the conditions for the Iranian public to overthrow the regime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US President Donald Trump signaled growing optimism Friday about a potential deal with Iran to end the war…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-397551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}