Trump no longer interested in reviving June MOU with Iran, says mediating diplomat

US President Donald Trump is no longer interested in reviving the June memorandum of understanding with Iran, adopting more hardline terms for ending the conflict with Iran, a senior diplomat from one of the mediating countries tells The Times of Israel.

The MOU fell apart within days over differing interpretations of its vaguely written terms regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

While mediating countries Qatar and Pakistan have sought to restore the MOU or negotiate a similar agreement, Trump has informed them that he is no longer prepared to accept those terms after feeling that the Iranians “burned” him repeatedly at the last minute, the diplomat says, confirming elements of the Wall Street Journal’s earlier reporting on the matter.

The mediating countries are still working to find a solution, but Trump is more interested in maintaining economic pressure against Iran, convinced that sanctions will lead the regime to capitulate to more favorable terms regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the curbing of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, according to a US official.

The diplomat from one of the mediating countries warns that the US will have to be prepared to wait Iran out for an extended period of time and questioned the administration’s ability to do so, given the war’s unpopularity among Americans.