President Donald Trump says US “not satisfied” with Iran talks, rules out sanctions relief even if an interim deal is reached.By World Israel News StaffPresident Donald Trump said Wednesday that Washington is not yet satisfied with negotiations aimed at ending the war with Iran and ruled out sanctions relief even if talks continue moving toward a possible agreement.Speaking during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump said Iran wants a deal but has not yet offered terms acceptable to the United States.“Iran is very much intent, they want very much to make a deal,” Trump said. “So far they haven’t gotten there … we’re not satisfied with it, but we will be. We will be either that or we’ll have to just finish the job.”The remarks marked a more cautious tone from Trump just days after he said an agreement with Tehran was nearly complete.They also came as the White House denied an Iranian state media report claiming the sides were considering a draft memorandum that would ease US military and economic pressure in exchange for Iranian steps on the Strait of Hormuz.Trump said any agreement would require the immediate reopening of the strait, the critical Gulf shipping lane that has been at the center of the conflict.“One of the things that will happen is the strait will open immediately,” Trump said.Asked whether he would accept a framework giving Iran and Oman temporary control over the waterway, Trump rejected the idea.“No, the strait is going to be open to everybody,” he said. “It’s international waters. Nobody’s going to control it. We’re going to watch over it.”Trump also issued an unusually blunt warning to Oman, a longtime regional mediator.“Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up,” Trump said. “They understand that, and they’ll be fine.”The White House did not immediately clarify the remark.The administration also denied that it had agreed to lift its naval blockade of Iran or withdraw US forces from the region, as Iranian state media had claimed in a purported draft framework.“This report from Iranian controlled media is not true and the MOU they ‘released’ is a complete fabrication,” the White House said on X. “Nobody should believe what Iranian state media is putting out. FACTS MATTER.”Trump said the United States was not discussing sanctions relief for Iran as part of the current talks. A week earlier, he said he would not ease sanctions before a final agreement was reached.“I’m not doing any relief until they sign an agreement,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on May 20. “When they sign an agreement, we can get that place built up again and have something that’s really a good country for the people, but no, we haven’t offered anything.”Trump has repeatedly said his goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while leaving open the possibility of further military action if diplomacy fails.“We hit them very hard,” Trump said last week. “We may have to hit them even harder, but maybe not. We’re not going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon and blow up the entire Middle East, Israel.”Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that “some progress” had been made in the negotiations, but warned that Washington still had other options if diplomacy failed.“We’ll see over the next few hours and days whether progress could be made,” Rubio said.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran’s willingness to negotiate reflected the pressure it was under after US and Israeli strikes and a continuing blockade.“They may have missiles, but they can’t build more right now,” Hegseth said. “They can’t build more drones right now, and they can’t build more ships, and so they came and cried ‘uncle’ to talk.”“No Iranian tanker around the globe is safe, and we’ve seen seizures all around the globe, choking off their economic lifeblood.”Trump dismissed suggestions that the approaching midterm elections would pressure him into accepting a weaker deal with Iran.“They thought they were going to outwait me,” Trump said, referring to Iran’s leaders. “You know, ‘We’ll outwait him. He’s got the midterms.’ I don’t care about the midterms.”The post Trump ‘not satisfied’ with Iran talks, rules out sanctions relief in interim deal appeared first on World Israel News.