Iran pushes differing deal versions as US sticks to timeline

Salma El Wardany, Arsalan Shahla, Bloomberg News on Jun 14, 2026

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Iran circulated competing versions of a proposed interim agreement with the U.S., even as President Donald Trump stuck to his Sunday timeline to sign a deal.

All of the texts — there were at least three — include similar elements around reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway, giving Iran sanctions relief and opening the door to longer-term negotiations around its nuclear program.

But they diverge in key respects, making it hard to assess how much of a win the deal will be for either side. A major discrepancy hinged on how much financial relief Iran would get immediately or in the future — a concern for Iran hawks in the U.S. who don’t want Trump to give away too much.

The White House declined to comment even with time running out for an agreement to be signed by Sunday — Trump’s 80th birthday — as the president had promised. On Sunday, Fox News cited Trump as saying a deal would be signed in two to three hours.

At one point earlier in the day, the likelihood of a signing appeared to grow more remote after Israel’s military hit the Lebanese capital, saying it was targeting Hezbollah after the Iranian-backed group fired more projectiles into northern Israel. Iran later vowed that a response was on the way. In a subsequent social media post, Trump said that Israel should stop attacking Lebanon.

“We are very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down,” Trump wrote on social media. “This could be the beginning of a long and beautiful peace — Let’s not blow it!”

The competing drafts only exacerbated days of confusion around the prospects for a deal to end the fighting that began with U.S. and Israeli missile attacks against Iran on February 28. That campaign has killed thousands of people, roiled the Middle East and spiked the price of oil.

Trump has said many times over the weeks of the conflict that the two sides were close to a deal. That claim was given credence this time by similar statements from Iranian officials and Pakistani mediators that a deal was near. But Iran also didn’t like the symbolism of signing the deal on Trump’s birthday.

The multiple versions have several things in common. The Strait of Hormuz would reopen quickly and Iran would get sanctions relief to sell oil. A deal would start the clock ticking on weeks of negotiations around the future of Iran’s nuclear program.

But they diverge in important ways. A version of the text seen by Bloomberg News suggests the U.S. and “regional partners” create a program for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran with minimum funding of $300 billion, if a final deal is reached. Iran’s nuclear program will be the subject of the later talks, according to the draft.

Reuters, citing an unidentified Iranian official, reported that a draft of the MOU includes the U.S. allowing the release of $25 billion of frozen assets. The version seen by Bloomberg contained no such stipulation.

And on Friday, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency said any final negotiations wouldn’t begin until half of Iran’s frozen funds are released, oil sanctions are suspended, and the naval blockade is lifted.

Reconciling the competing claims was made more difficult by the fact that the Trump administration, while talking about timing of a deal, has so far declined to give many details about what it would look like. Crucially, it’s not clear whether Iran will demand tolls from ships crossing the strait, and the various versions didn’t mention the issue.

That reflects the challenge faced by the U.S. president — he is eager to bring the war to an end yet has been unwilling so far to agree to Iranian demands — such as sanctions relief, releasing frozen Iranian funds, and a promise not to attack again — that Iran hawks at home have argued would mark a major victory for Tehran.

A senior U.S. official, speaking to reporters on Friday, said the deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and send the U.S. and Iran into negotiations on bigger issues around the country’s nuclear program. It would involve a sequence of steps that would see Iran receive rewards as it meets certain U.S. demands.

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—With assistance from Michael Nienaber, Josh Wingrove, Margaret Collins, Mirette Magdy and Fiona MacDonald.