Iran says U.S. war deal not final despite Trump announcement

The gap between Washington and Tehran widened on Friday after Iran said no final war deal had been reached, even as Donald Trump predicted a signing within days. The clash centered on a conflict that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026, and now hinges on unresolved terms, enforcement and whether either side is prepared to lock in a true end to the war.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the reports about a signed deal or a signing ceremony were speculative and that nothing had been finalized. He said a major part of the negotiating text had been completed, but added that the U.S. side kept changing its positions and making new demands. The message from Tehran was clear: the outline may be there, but the political and legal commitments needed to close the deal were not.

Trump presented a much more finished picture on Thursday, telling reporters that the United States had made a "great settlement" of the war with Iran. He said the agreement still depended on the "finalization of documents" and predicted a signing within days, possibly in Europe and possibly by the weekend. He also said the Strait of Hormuz would reopen as soon as a deal was signed, linking the diplomacy directly to one of the world’s most sensitive shipping lanes.

That divergence matters because the war has already disrupted the region and rattled energy markets. Reuters reported that hopes for peace rose after Trump’s remarks, even as Tehran rejected the idea that any final agreement had been reached. Other reporting said the comments helped fuel a stock-market rally and pushed oil prices lower as traders priced in the possibility of de-escalation. Yet the central question remained unanswered: what exactly would each side be signing, and what would force compliance if either side later walked away?

CBS News reported that two sources familiar with the diplomacy said a letter of intent or memorandum of understanding could be signed early next week, underscoring how fluid the process remained. Iran has also signaled that it would not compromise on its "red lines" in the talks. For now, the political theater is moving faster than the legal architecture, and the distance between an announcement and a binding war-ending agreement remains the story.