Four months after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Tehran, triggering a war in the Middle East, the region remains tense despite delegations from the two countries agreeing to a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that an agreement is close and has often spoken about a deal that can end the conflict and reopen the key route, Strait of Hormuz.
This week, Trump made fresh comments, saying the ceasefire with Iran was over while also claiming that Iranian leaders were eager to reach an agreement with him.
Trump has reportedly suggested that an agreement was close to being achieved at least 38 times since March.
On March 23, he told reporters the US and Iran had “very, very strong talks".
"We'll see where they lead. We have points, major points of agreement, I would say, almost all points of agreement, we've had very strong talks. Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner had them,” he said, raising hopes that negotiations were moving forward.
Three days later, on March 26, during a White House Cabinet meeting, Trump claimed that Iranian negotiators were “begging” to reach a deal with the United States.
Then, on March 29, when asked by a reporter whether an agreement could be reached within a week, the US President replied, “I do see a deal in Iran, yeah.” His comments kept the possibility of an agreement in the spotlight, even though nothing was announced later.
Throughout April, he continued to say that a peace agreement with Iran was close. On April 8, after announcing what he called a "double-sided ceasefire," Trump wrote on social media that the United States was moving very close to a long-term peace agreement with Iran.
A week later, on April 15, he told Fox Business that “I think it's close to over, yeah. I view it as very close to being over.”
On April 17, Trump said he expected a deal within the next day or two. The same day, Trump claimed Iran had “agreed to everything.”
On April 20, he again shared on Truth Social that the agreement would happen soon.
He wrote, “I read the Fake News saying that I am under pressure to make a Deal. THIS IS NOT TRUE! I am under no pressure whatsoever, although, it will all happen, relatively quickly! Time is not my adversary, the only thing that matters is that we finally, after 47 years, straighten out the MESS that other Presidents let happen because they didn't have the Courage or Foresight to do what had to be done with respect to Iran. We're in it, and it will be done RIGHT.”
Trump then said on April 30 that Iran was still eager to make a deal.
Similar statements were issued in May as well. On May 1, Trump told reporters that he expected the war to end before long, again suggesting that progress was being made.
On May 18, after delaying planned strikes on Iran, Trump said a deal was very close. He also admitted that he had made similar comments before but added that this time the situation was different.
On May 23, he said, "Every day it gets better and better. I can't tell you before I tell them, right?”
He described the deal as mostly negotiated, with only the final details left to complete, and said an announcement would come soon.
Then, on May 28, during an interview, he once again said that both sides were close to reaching a very good agreement.
Even with these repeated statements, no final deal was announced during the month.
More than a week later, on June 9, Trump told reporters that the negotiations were in their final stage. He also said the Strait of Hormuz would reopen immediately after the agreement was signed and suggested that the deal could be completed within two or three days.
On June 17, the two sides signed an interim deal to end the war but exchanged strikes days later.
On July 8, Trump said the Iranian side had "called a little while ago," and that they wanted "to make a deal so badly" while describing them as "sort of crazy".
