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Iran will make amendments to the text of a potential memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United States after receiving the latest U.S. response, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, said Xinhua. Reacting to Saturday U.S. media reports that the United States amended elements of the draft agreement and sent it back to Tehran, Tasnim quoted an informed source as saying that Iran will also make its own amendments to the draft deal, and "nothing is final yet." The source said Iran will only accept a draft it agrees to, and the amendments made by the United States do not imply Tehran's approval. U.S. media, citing officials, said U.S. President Donald Trump raised concerns over parts of the draft, including the release of Iran's frozen assets, and wanted tougher terms in the MoU, especially on Iran's nuclear material. Iran and the United States are reportedly working to finalize an MoU on ending the war that started on Feb. 28 with joint attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran. The two sides reached a temporary ceasefire on April 8. Over the past weeks, they have exchanged several proposed plans outlining conditions for ending the conflict through Pakistani mediation. Meanwhile, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Sunday that Tehran will not agree to any deal with the United States until the rights of the Iranian people have been secured. Addressing an online parliament session, Qalibaf stressed that Iranian negotiators have no trust in the "enemy's" words and promises, according to the official news agency IRNA, said Xinhua. "Our criterion is tangible achievements that we must attain in order to fulfill our commitments in return," he said. "We will not approve any agreement until we are sure that we have secured the Iranian nation's rights." The speaker noted Iran's "achievement" on the battlefield, stressing that the diplomacy's job is to transform "these victories into political and legal achievements." He warned that in a new phase of war, the "enemies" seek to sow internal discord through economic pressure and media propaganda to force Iran to surrender, and expressed confidence that Iran's people would resist them. In a Friday post on social media platform X, Qalibaf, who serves as Tehran's top negotiator in peace talks with Washington, said, "We obtain concessions not through dialogue, but with missiles; in negotiations we merely make them understandable." Separately, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Sunday that 28 ships, including oil tankers, container vessels, and commercial ships, passed through the Strait of Hormuz within the past 24 hours after obtaining permission and receiving protection from its Navy. Iran had tightened control over the strait since Feb. 28, when it barred passage to vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States after the two countries' joint strikes on Iranian territory. The United States later imposed its own blockade on the waterway after peace negotiations with Iran in Pakistan's Islamabad collapsed. Over the past weeks, Iran and the United States are reportedly exchanged several proposed plans outlining conditions for peace through Pakistan's mediation, and are working to finalize a memorandum of understanding to end the war.
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