President Donald Trump is prepared to offer Iran sanctions relief and release its frozen funds “as part of a final deal,” provided Tehran makes “concrete progress” on the nuclear issue, a White House official told CNN on Monday. Axios and Al Jazeera carried similar accounts from US officials.

The official said Washington is having “positive and constructive discussions through the mediators,” but stressed there will be no deal unless nuclear issues are addressed. According to CNN, Iran has shown flexibility on nuclear issues, though the two sides still disagree on the timing of commitments. The US negotiating effort is led by special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.


The signal came two days after Trump rejected Iran’s latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as “unacceptable,” saying: “They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want.” US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said Tehran was “asking for everything up front,” calling its offer “a pretty cynical attempt to put something on the table.” Trump had said he expects more talks with Iran this week.
Trump later denied the report. “This is not true, I have offered them nothing,” he said on Monday, calling the report false and saying it should be taken down immediately.