By Jonathan Landay, Steve Holland, Gram Slattery and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) – The U.S. and Iran have reached an agreement on a memorandum of understanding to extend their ceasefire for 60 days, but U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to approve it, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The agreement will state how to address Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which will be among the first issues discussed during the 60-day window, according to an earlier report by Axios, which broke the news.
The White House declined to comment.
The Trump administration has several times said a deal to end the fighting was close, only to have Iran dispute or downplay the claims.
Trump initially said the war would last four to six weeks, but it is now three months old. At times, he has suggested the conflict could end within days, only to later suggest it could go on for some time.
Over the weekend, expectations of a deal soared when Trump canceled his weekend plans to stay in Washington and skipped his son’s wedding, citing “circumstances pertaining to government.” On Sunday, a senior Trump administration official downplayed an imminent deal, but said there was agreement in principle over the broad contours of a deal.
Trump has come under growing pressure from Iran hawks in his own party, who have urged him not to make any agreement that fails to immediately address Iran’s nuclear program.
Growing voter disquiet about high prices, especially for gasoline, has added to political pressure on Trump’s Republican Party, which is widely expected to struggle to keep control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.
Trump has said his key aim in the war is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon with its highly enriched uranium. Tehran has consistently denied it has plans to do that.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Gram Slattery, Steve Holland and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Don Durfee, Rod Nickel)
