What has Trump said before possible US-Iran talks and what could it mean?

Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump has posted a series of rapid-fire messages on the US-Israeli war with Iran, claiming that his government secured major concessions before a possible next round of ceasefire talks.

Posted on Truth Social on Friday, Trump’s statements claimed that Iran had agreed to open — and “never close” — the Strait of Hormuz.

He also alleged that Tehran would turn over its “nuclear dust” and that Israel would be “prohibited” from launching attacks in Lebanon.

Iran has confirmed reopening the Strait of Hormuz for the “duration” of the current pause in fighting, which is set to end early next week, barring a new agreement. But it has not officially responded to many of Trump’s far-reaching claims.

Despite the outstanding questions, the US president struck a celebratory tone, calling Friday “A GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD!”

Separately, he told Bloomberg News that he expected talks to move forward on Sunday with a permanent ceasefire deal in sight.

“We’re not seeing the full picture,” Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, told Al Jazeera, pointing to Trump’s penchant for hyperbole and several unresolved issues.

“But this does suggest a positive momentum towards something that may end up being a comprehensive deal.”

Sayigh added that Trump could have ulterior motives in striking an upbeat tone, at a time when the chokehold in the Strait of Hormuz is driving up prices for everything from fuel to fertiliser.

“It is very interesting that President Trump is putting such a positive spin on things, not only to encourage markets and talk down oil prices and talk stock market prices up,” Sayigh said.

“But also, I suspect, because he’s preparing the ground for more revelations about what is being negotiated with Iran.”

Trump says Iran will ‘never close’ Strait of Hormuz

Part of Trump’s social media claims appeared to be confirmed in a separate statement from Tehran. But the details showed distance between Trump’s position and Iran’s.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on Friday that, in light of a 10-day pause in fighting in Lebanon, “the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire.”

Trump swiftly echoed that claim on social media, writing that the strait is “FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE”.

However, a senior Iranian military official told state media that only nonmilitary vessels would be allowed to transit the strait — and only with permission from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy.

Then, Trump went further with his claims of free maritime traffic, saying, “Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again.”

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Alexandru Hudisteanu, a maritime security expert, said there has been no confirmation from Iran that such a long-term pledge had been made.

“We know, for instance, that over the last six weeks or so of the war, the Iranian leadership grasped the fact that its control over the Strait of Hormuz gave it the kind of deterrence that its nuclear programme, its ballistic missiles, its regional proxies, had never actually given it,” he said.

“So, I don’t think that the Iranian leadership would have made this kind of commitment unequivocally and irrevocably.”

There were also lingering questions about another post Trump made, concerning the US decision to blockade the strait.

Trump posted that the ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf “WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE”.

But media reports indicate that Iran might close traffic in the Hormuz Strait if such a blockade were to remain in effect.

Iran’s Fars News Agency, which is closely aligned with the IRGC, reported that Tehran considers the continuation of the US blockade a violation of the current ceasefire and would again close the strait if it were not lifted.

Then there were the questions of mines in the strait. On Truth Social, Trump also said that “Iran, with the help of the U.S.A., has removed, or is removing, all sea mines!”

But the news agency Reuters reported that a US Navy advisory warned on Friday that the “status of TSS mine threat is not fully understood. Consider avoidance of that area”. The statement referred to the Traffic Separation Scheme, the two-way shipping lane in the strait.

Trump says US will get all nuclear ‘dust’

A major sticking point in the negotiations between the US and Iran has been the future of Iran’s nuclear programme. While Iran has denied seeking a nuclear weapon, the US and Israel have claimed their initial attacks in the war, on February 28, were designed to prevent Iran from constructing one.

On Friday, Trump again appeared to claim that Iran would turn over its enriched uranium stockpile, writing on Truth Social that “the U.S.A. will get all Nuclear ‘Dust'”.

The term “dust” appears to be a reference to the US decision to bomb three key nuclear sites in Iran on June 22, 2025. Trump has repeatedly claimed that those attacks “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme, despite conflicting evidence.

On Friday, after his post, Trump explained to Reuters that the US would work with Iran “at a nice leisurely pace, and go down and start excavating with big machinery” to retrieve the uranium stockpile at the sites.

“We’ll bring ⁠it back to the United States,” he added. He also told Bloomberg that Iran had agreed to suspend its nuclear programme indefinitely.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem said there has been no confirmation on such an agreement.

“This is a big claim here, because the Iranians have always said that they’re not going to accept such a close such a condition,” Hashem said. “What we’ve heard from our sources is that the issue of enrichment and the sunsets of any conditions is going to be left till the end of the talks.”

Trump also maintained that “no money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form”, another claim that has not been confirmed by Iran.

Hashem added that the release of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds, the lifting of US sanctions and reparations for war damages have been key priorities for Tehran. He believes Iran will leverage issues like the free flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to extract concessions.

“What’s the price for this?” Hashem said. “And what are the Iranians going to take in return? These are big questions.”

Trump says Israel ‘prohibited’ from bombing Lebanon

Another issue that has threatened to disrupt the ceasefire talks was Israel’s ongoing bombing campaign in Lebanon. Iran and mediators in Pakistan had maintained that Lebanon was included in the initial ceasefire, but the US and Israel denied that it was part of the agreement.

But on Thursday, a breakthrough was announced: Israel had agreed to a 10-day pause in its invasion and bombardment of Lebanon.

On Friday, however, Trump seemed to imply that the stoppage was to continue into the long term.

“Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer,” he wrote. “They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!”

He added that Washington will work with Lebanon and “deal with the Hezboolah situation in an appropriate manner”.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera correspondent Alan Fisher said the statement represents a particularly hard US line on Israel, but it remains to be seen if Trump would indeed seek to punish Israel if they do not comply.

“That’s not what the United States tends to do,” Fisher said.

“Is Donald Trump actually going to change the norms of American politics when it comes to dealing with the Israelis and treat them like he’s treated other countries in the past, and effectively cut them off?”

Trump thanks regional countries, takes shot at NATO

While Trump’s posts on Friday were largely celebratory, he did hand out darts and laurels to various parties in the ceasefire negotiations.

Trump thanked Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar for their “great bravery and help”. He also thanked Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, who helped to coordinate US-Iran contacts. He called them “two fantastic people”.

But Trump took aim at NATO, which he has criticised for not supporting the US and Israeli war against Iran, as well as subsequent efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“Now that the Hormuz Strait situation is over, I received a call from NATO asking if we would need some help. I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY, UNLESS THEY JUST WANT TO LOAD UP THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL,” Trump wrote.  “They were useless when needed, a Paper Tiger!”

The Trump administration has signalled it is mulling a withdrawal from NATO, although such a move would require congressional approval.

But despite Trump’s most recent statements, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said European allies had agreed to accelerate military planning for a multinational force to secure the waterway during a summit in Paris on Friday.