A woman walks past an anti-US billboard depicting US President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday told a cabinet meeting that Iran very much wanted to make a deal, but that the US was not satisfied with it yet.

“Iran is very much intent; they want very much to make a deal. So far, they haven’t gotten there,” Trump told reporters at a cabinet meeting at the White House.

“We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be. We will be either that, or we’ll have to just finish the job,” he added, hinting at the possibility of further military action against Iran.

Trump’s comments came after the White House on Wednesday said a report from Iran’s state TV citing a draft of an initial, unofficial framework for a memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States was “not true” and that the cited memorandum was “a complete fabrication.”

Iranian state television reported on Wednesday that Tehran would restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month in a framework deal with the US to also include withdrawing US forces from Iran‘s vicinity, 

The report said the US would end a naval blockade of Iranian shipping, citing a memorandum of understanding being negotiated between the two sides to end the war which has choked global energy supplies through the strategic waterway.

Iranian state TV said it had obtained an unofficial draft of the MOU though it was not final and may not be agreed.

Iran‘s government did not comment, despite the US denial.

The issue of US troops in the region also needs further discussion, the state TV report said without being more specific.

There was no mention of Iran‘s nuclear program, which the US wants disbanded.

The state TV report was the latest signal of possible progress toward a deal, although publicly Tehran and Washington have outlined positions starkly at odds and the potential terms outlined by the broadcaster did not appease all US demands.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday it may take a few more days, after President Donald Trump had raised hopes over the weekend for an imminent end to the war.

Key sticking points have included reopening and management of the waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the conflict and the dismantling of Iran‘s nuclear capacity.

Oil prices fell more than 5% on Wednesday after the Iranian TV report.

It was not immediately clear what a US military pullback as described by Iranian state television would look like.

The US military has some 15,000 troops currently enforcing a blockade of Iran and has thousands of additional forces at bases throughout the region, including in Gulf states like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

US naval vessels, some with thousands of sailors and Marines aboard, regularly transit the region, stopping in ports including in Oman. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NUCLEAR ISSUE FOR A SECOND ROUND

Iranian sources have said talks on the nuclear issue will come in a second round of negotiations – something that may not be acceptable to some of Trump’s closest supporters.

Trump has said dismantling Iran‘s nuclear program to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon was the key aim of the war. Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes only.

Earlier on Wednesday, a senior Iranian official told reporters on the sidelines of the first International Security Forum in Moscow that reopening the strait remained a sticking point.

“As long as we have not agreed on all issues, we consider that nothing has been agreed,” Iran’s deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Bagheri Kani, told reporters when asked about a deal on reopening the waterway.

State TV said the framework, which excludes military vessels and envisages Iran managing ship traffic through the strait in cooperation with Oman, was not yet finalized and that Tehran would take no steps without “tangible verification.”

The conflict, which began on Feb. 28, has killed thousands and caused an unprecedented oil supply shock, pushing up the costs of fuel, fertilizer, and food.

It has also created political problems for Trump at home, where polls show the war is deeply unpopular with the public six months before mid-term elections.

Even as peace talks continued, the US launched a series of what it called defensive strikes on Tuesday in Iran‘s southern Hormozgan province targeting missile sites and boats attempting to lay mines.

Iran‘s foreign ministry said the strikes represented a “gross violation” of a tenuous ceasefire in place for nearly seven weeks.