{"id":128166,"date":"2026-05-23T22:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T22:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/128166\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T22:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T22:44:09","slug":"roger-wicker-says-trumps-iran-agreement-would-be-a-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/128166\/","title":{"rendered":"Roger Wicker Says Trump’s Iran Agreement ‘Would Be a Disaster’"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump said Saturday that a deal with Iran on\u00a0the war<\/a>, including opening the Strait of Hormuz, has been \u201clargely negotiated\u201d after calls with Israel and other allies in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinal aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,\u201d Trump said on social media, with no details. He said he had spoken with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, and separately with Israel.<\/p>\n

He described it as a \u201cMemorandum of Understanding pertaining to PEACE\u201d that still must be finalized by the United States, Iran and the other countries that participated in the calls. It capped a week in which the U.S. weighed a new round of\u00a0attacks on the Islamic Republic<\/a>\u00a0that would break a fragile ceasefire.<\/p>\n

There was no mention of Iran\u2019s nuclear program and highly enriched uranium, which Iran has sought to discuss later. There was no immediate comment from Iran or Israel. Trump said speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had pressed the U.S. to go to war, went \u201cvery well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rumblings about the details of the detail drew condemnation from some Republicans earlier on Saturday, including U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rumored 60-day ceasefire \u2014 with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good faith\u2014would be a disaster. Everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught,\u201d tweeted Wicker<\/a>, who serves as the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee chairman.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the Mississippi Republican, who rarely criticizes Trump, described it as \u201ca moment that will define President Trump\u2019s legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis instincts have been to finish the job he started in Iran, but he is being ill advised to pursue a deal that would not be worth the paper it is written on,\u201d Wicker tweeted<\/a>. \u201cOur commander-in-chief needs to allow America\u2019s skilled armed forces to finish the destruction of Iran\u2019s conventional military capabilities and reopen the strait. Further pursuit of an agreement with Iran\u2019s Islamist regime risks a perception of weakness. We must finish what we started. It is past time for action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing Optimism Among Officials<\/p>\n

Earlier on Saturday, a regional official with direct knowledge of the Pakistan-led mediation efforts said the U.S. and Iran were closing in on a deal to end the war.<\/p>\n

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door deliberations, cautioned that \u201clast-minute disputes\u201d could blow up the efforts. This is not the first time in recent weeks that a deal has been described as close.<\/p>\n

The official said the deal would include an official declaration of the war\u2019s end, with two-month negotiations on Iran\u2019s nuclear program. The\u00a0Strait of Hormuz<\/a>\u00a0would be reopened and the U.S. would end its\u00a0blockade of Iran\u2019s ports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Iran, meanwhile, had signaled \u201cnarrowing differences\u201d in\u00a0negotiations<\/a>\u00a0after Pakistani army chief Asim Munir held more talks in Tehran.<\/p>\n

Twelve weeks have passed since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, killing top Iranian officials\u00a0including its supreme leader<\/a>\u00a0and interrupting nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran for the second time in less than a year. Iran fired at Israel and at neighbors hosting U.S. forces, shaking Gulf nations that had considered themselves safe havens in a tough region.<\/p>\n

A ceasefire has held since April 7. But Iran\u2019s decision to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz for ships carrying regional oil, natural gas and other critical supplies has been a focal point of global concern and economic pain.<\/p>\n

Iran Described It as a \u2018Framework Agreement\u2019 for More Talks<\/p>\n

Iran state TV earlier quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei as describing the draft as a \u201cframework agreement\u201d and adding: \u201cWe want this to include the main issues required for ending the imposed war and other issues of essential importance to us. Then, over a reasonable time span, between 30 to 60 days, details are discussed and ultimately a final agreement is reached.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the Strait of Hormuz is among the topics discussed.<\/p>\n

\"AA man walks along the shore as oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz, seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. AP Photo\/Altaf Qadri<\/p>\n

But Baghaei told Iran\u2019s official IRNA news agency that nuclear issues are not part of current negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur focus at this stage is on ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon,\u201d he said, adding that lifting sanctions on Tehran \u201chas explicitly been included in the text and remains our fixed position.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah\u2019s Al-Manar TV reported that the Lebanese militant group\u2019s leader received a letter from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying Tehran will not abandon its allies. There is a fragile,\u00a0U.S.-brokered ceasefire<\/a>\u00a0in the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon, a conflict that began two days after the Iran war started.<\/p>\n

Trump Had Said \u2018Serious Negotiations\u2019 Were Underway<\/p>\n

Trump earlier said he was\u00a0holding off<\/a>\u00a0on a military strike against Iran because \u201cserious negotiations\u201d were underway, and at the request of allies in the Middle East. Trump has\u00a0repeatedly set deadlines<\/a>\u00a0for Tehran and then backed off.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the lead negotiator in\u00a0historic face-to-face talks<\/a>\u00a0with the U.S. last month in Islamabad, said Saturday that\u00a0Iran has rebuilt its military assets<\/a>\u00a0and if Trump resumed attacks, the result would be \u201cmore crushing and more bitter\u201d than at the start of the war.<\/p>\n

State TV said he spoke after meeting with Pakistan\u2019s army chief Asim Munir, who also met with Araghchi, President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials. Qatar sent a senior official to Tehran to support Pakistan\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

The war\u2019s stated aims have not been achieved. Iran still has its enriched uranium and a missile program it says is being rebuilt. It continues to express support for armed proxies in the region. The new supreme leader, though still unseen publicly since the war began, is the son of the previous one and close to the powerful Revolutionary Guard.<\/p>\n

And the Iranian people have not revolted against the government as both Trump and Netanyahu had predicted after nationwide protests early this year.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Magdy reported from Cairo and Superville from Washington. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report. Ashton Pittman contributed reporting about U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker\u2019s reaction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump said Saturday that a deal with Iran on\u00a0the war, including opening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[1101,38,159,30853,559,34,196,1284,32398,1102],"class_list":["post-128166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-ap","tag-donald-trump","tag-foreign-policy","tag-home-featured","tag-international","tag-iran","tag-iran-war","tag-national","tag-roger-wicker","tag-wire"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116626316603903950","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}