Just hours after a fragile US-Iran ceasefire took effect to pave the way for new negotiations, confusion and public disagreement have thrown the future of the diplomatic process into question on Wednesday. A senior anonymous United States government official based in Washington told reporters that the 10-point peace framework published by Iranian state media does not match the terms the White House agreed to as the foundation for a temporary halt to hostilities.
“The document being circulated by news outlets is not the working framework we agreed to,” the official stated, declining to elaborate on the content of the actual agreed framework. The official explained that the US administration has chosen to avoid public negotiations to protect the integrity of the diplomatic process, saying “We’re not going to negotiate in public out of respect for the process.”
This clarification has amplified existing worries about the stability of the truce, which was announced late Tuesday. The ceasefire came just hours before a harsh deadline set by former President Donald Trump, who had threatened that Iran would face the destruction of its “whole civilization” if it failed to meet US demands.
When Trump first announced the two-week truce to allow space for negotiations, he indicated that Iran’s submitted 10-point proposal provided a viable foundation for talks. Shortly after that announcement, Iranian state media released the full text of their 10-point plan, which includes several non-negotiable terms that directly contradict Washington’s public stated demands. Key provisions of the public Iranian plan include permanent Iranian sovereignty over the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, a full lifting of all international economic sanctions imposed on Tehran, and international recognition of Iran’s right to conduct uranium enrichment.
Later on Wednesday, Trump took to his own social media platform Truth Social to lash out against individuals and outlets spreading what he called false information about supposed agreements and documents that are not part of the actual ongoing negotiation process. “In many cases, they are total Fraudsters, Charlatans, and WORSE,” he wrote in his post.
Trump stressed that only one set of agreed points is acceptable to the United States, and that those points will be discussed exclusively behind closed doors throughout the 14-day truce period. “These are the POINTS that are the basis on which we agreed to a CEASEFIRE,” he added, offering no further details about the content of the undisclosed framework.