Iran's top negotiator says Tehran will not agree to any deal without full rights, citing deep distrust of US

Published - May 31, 2026 10:11 pm IST — Tehran AFP

Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf | Photo Credit: AFP PHOTO / HO /ISLAMIC CONSULTATIVE ASSEMBLY (ICANA)

Iran's chief negotiator warned on Sunday (May 31, 2026) that the United States is not to be trusted, stating that Tehran would not agree to any deal with Washington unless it fully secures Iranian rights.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's remarks came as reports emerged that U.S. President Donald Trump had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran, underscoring the rift that parties still need to bridge.

Any further changes to the draft could delay an agreement to formally end the West Asia war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of fraught negotiations marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence.

Iran was already in negotiations with the United States about its nuclear programme in February when the U.S. and Israel launched air and missile strikes that wiped out much of the Islamic republic's senior leadership.

While Tehran has long insisted its nuclear programme is for purely civilian purposes, the United States and its Western allies have long suspected it aims to develop a weapon.

Nuclear Guarantees

The New York Times and Axios reported on Saturday (May 31, 2026) that Mr. Trump had sent back a "tougher" new framework for Iran to consider, though details remain unclear.

Mr. Trump has said his priorities include preventing Iran from any nuclear weapon development and reopening the Hormuz shipping lane, over which Iran has sought to impose control since the war began.

"The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They've agreed to that, and it was very interesting," he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview on her Fox News show.

Trump says Iran has agreed to no nuclear weapons

But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Mr. Trump's assertions, and the sides remain far apart on key issues.

"We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld," Ghalibaf said in a video broadcast on state television.

According to the Tasnim news agency, "exchanges between Iran and the United States regarding the text of a possible memorandum of understanding are ongoing, with both parties regularly proposing amendments."

"No agreement has yet been finalised, and it is possible that any agreement will be rejected," it said.

Iran has said it needs the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear programme, dismissing earlier comments by Mr. Trump that its enriched uranium stockpile would be destroyed as "baseless," according to Iranian media.

Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon be included in any deal, despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a "scorched-earth policy" as it expands operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Flare-Ups

Although daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf halted after Tehran and Washington struck a temporary ceasefire in April and talks mediated by Pakistan, sporadic fighting has continued.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards shot down a U.S. military drone "about to enter Iranian territorial waters," Iran's state broadcaster IRIB reported, though Washington has not confirmed the incident.

Earlier this week, the worst fighting since the ceasefire erupted when U.S. forces struck the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, prompting retaliatory fire from Iran.

Nevertheless, diplomacy has continued, with Mr. Trump under pressure to secure a deal that would lift competing U.S. and Iranian blockades around the Strait of Hormuz that have strangled a vital route for global oil supplies.

After Mr. Trump said Iran would charge "no tolls" on ships passing through the strait under any deal, Iranian news agency Fars cited sources saying "no such clause" existed.

Iran's ISNA news agency on Saturday (May 31, 2026) quoted lawmaker Alireza Salimi as saying a plan "to implement Iran's management and sovereignty" over the strait — which includes imposing "administrative fees" for navigation — would soon go before parliament.

Lebanon Front

Israel said on Sunday (May 31, 2026) that troops had crossed the Litani River and raised the Israeli flag over the strategic medieval fortress of Beaufort in southern Lebanon. Smoke billowed from the area.