송상호
| 2026-05-28 03:03:32
(LEAD) Trump-Iran negotiation
(LEAD) Trump says U.S. 'not satisfied' yet in Iran negotiations, Strait of Hormuz will be 'open to everybody'
(ATTN: RECASTS lead; UPDATES throughout)
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, May 27 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration is "not satisfied" yet, though Iran is "very much intent" on reaching a deal with the United States to end hostilities, amid reports that the two countries are inching toward a peace agreement.
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Trump also stressed that "nobody" will control the Strait of Hormuz, rejecting Iran's push to regulate traffic through the crucial waterway, while saying that his administration is not discussing sanctions relief in negotiations with Tehran.
His remarks came as Washington and Tehran are working to narrow their differences on a memorandum of understanding that reports say would extend their ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and continue negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.
"Iran is very much intent. They want very much to make a deal. So far, they haven't gotten there," he said. "We are not satisfied with it, but we will be. We will be ... either that, or we will have to just finish the job."
The president reiterated that Iran is in negotiations from a weak position.
"As I've said 1,000 times, their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Everything's gone, and they are negotiating on fumes," he said. "We will see what happens. Maybe, we have to go back and finish it. Maybe, we don't."
In the peace talks with Iran, U.S. negotiators are not discussing any sanctions relief, Trump said, despite Iran's reported calls for Washington to ease sanctions and release its frozen assets.
"No, we are not talking about any easing of sanctions or giving money. No sanctions, no money," he said.
"We have control of money that they claim is theirs. We will keep control of that money. When they behave properly and when they do what's right, we will let them have their money, but right now, we are not doing that, and one thing is not contingent on the other."
In a brief phone interview with PBS News earlier in the day, Trump also said that Iran would not get sanctions relief in exchange for giving up its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium that can be used to build bombs.
During the Cabinet meeting, Trump opposed the idea of letting China or Russia taking Iran's enriched uranium.
"No, I wouldn't be comfortable (with the idea). That would not make me comfortable," he said.
On Iran's push to regulate traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump underscored that the vital waterway won't be controlled by any country.
"No, the strait is going to be open to everybody. It's international waters. Nobody is going to control it," he said. "We'll watch over it. That's part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it. Nobody is going to control it."
Asked to characterize the current state of the negotiations with Iran, Trump said that his negotiators are "doing very well."
"They are starting to give us the things that they have to get us, and if they do, that's great. And if they won't, then the man on my left is going to finish him off," Trump said, referring to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Responding to a question about whether he has a time frame in his mind about the peace negotiations, Trump repeated that the U.S. has been engaged in negotiations for just "a few months," whereas past major wars, including the Vietnam War and the Korean War, lasted much longer.
During the Cabinet meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio pointed out that there has been "some progress" in the peace negotiations with Iran.
"I think there has been some progress ... and we will see over the next few hours and days whether progress could be made," the secretary said.
"I just want to remind everybody ... Mr. President, you know this well. You have other options available to you if that doesn't work, but the bottom line is that we prefer the negotiated diplomatic route, and we are going to give it every chance to succeed."
Rubio reiterated that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.
"It's very simple. Iran and these people in charge of Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon, and they most certainly will not have one as long as you are president of the United States," he said.
Meanwhile, the White House's "Rapid Response" team dismissed as "not true," Iran's reported draft memorandum of understanding for peace that calls for the U.S. to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports and pull out its troops from areas close to Iran in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels.
"This report from Iranian controlled media is not true," the team wrote. "Nobody should believe what Iranian state media is putting out. FACTS MATTER."
(END)
[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]