Washington DC: US President Donald Trump on Friday rejected a 14-point draft of a memorandum published by Iranian media regarding the proposed US-Iran peace deal as “fake.” He accused Iran of leaking the document to the media that was not agreed upon by the US. Trump’s statement raised doubts about the future of the peace deal.
“The terms that Iran leaked out to the Fake News have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing. What they said, including their weak and pathetic statement on having a deal, bears no relation to the truth,” Trump said.
Accusing Tehran of acting in bad faith, Trump said the Iranian leadership had made misleading claims about a deal and called them “very dishonorable people” with whom it was impossible to negotiate sincerely.
“Very dishonorable people to deal with. With them, there is no such thing as dealing in good faith,” the US President stated.
Notably, hours after Trump “cancelled” strikes on Iran, Iranian media on Friday released details of what it claimed a ’14-point draft memorandum of understanding’ between Tehran and Washington. The draft of the new memorandum published by Iran’s Mehr News was reportedly different from the previous published provisions reported by Axios.
According to Mehr, the 14-point draft is still awaiting final examination and approval from the relevant Iranian authorities. As per the memorandum, both parties agreed to ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon and the US agreed to withdraw its forces from areas surrounding Iran. The draft of the memorandum also claimed that naval blockade will be lifted within 30 days.
Trump Blames Iran For Attacks On Ships Near Hormuz:
Trump also accused Iran of attacking a merchant ship with Indian sailors onboard near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. He termed the attack by “Iranian drones” as “unacceptable.”
“Also, their totally rebuffed Drone attack last night against Indian Ships leaving the Hormuz Strait is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” he stated.
However, the US President did not provide any evidence to back the claim and did not specify which vessels he was referring to. Iranian authorities had yet to respond to the allegation at the time of publication.
Trump’s remarks on the ship attack came hours after India summoned US charge d’affaires Jason Meeks over the three attacks on merchant ships carrying Indian sailors off the Oman coast. . Three Indian sailors lost their lives in the attack of MT Settebello on June 10. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement said that it conveyed “deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping” during the meeting.
“The U.S. Chargé d’Affaires, Mr. Jason Meeks, was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs today. A strong protest was lodged with him regarding the continuing attacks by U.S. naval forces on commercial vessels carrying Indian mariners in the Gulf of Oman, which have already resulted in the tragic and avoidable loss of three Indian lives,” the MEA said in a statement.