Washington DC - President Donald Trump confirmed the US will not extend negotiations with Iran on the ill-fated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), but said Tehran wants to "make a deal."
"Well, they want to make a deal," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. "But they're not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary."
"Look, we're in there for one reason: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, you understand that?" he continued. "And they won't have a nuclear weapon."
"And right now, them building one after what we did previously with the B-2 bombers, it's gonna be a long time we have. But, um, Iran cannot have – it's very simple – they can't have a nuclear weapon."
A 60-day deadline for the MOU expired on Monday, amid continued violence between both sides and an increasingly difficult diplomatic environment.
The preliminary agreement failed to achieve its primary goals, such as the permanent reopening of the Hormuz Strait and a final peace deal between the US, allied Israel, and Iran.
Trump had touted the agreement as a major victory when he signed it in the Palace of Versailles in June, declaring in anticipation of the MOU: "Ships of the world, start your engines. Let the oil flow!"
The MOU was a failure from the start, however, as Israel continued to launch devastating attacks in Lebanon's south, drawing fury from Tehran. Fighting kicked off again in July with weeks of continuous missile barrages across the region.
Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Tuesday said Hormuz won't be reopened until the US meets Tehran's demands, including the lifting of its punishing naval blockade.
"I want to state clearly that the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened until the American commitments stipulated in the memorandum of understanding… are implemented," Ghalibaf said.