US, Iran Reportedly Days Away From Nuclear Deal Requiring Tehran To Surrender Enriched Uranium

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) –

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – The United States and Iran are reportedly days away from signing an initial agreement that would require Tehran to surrender and destroy enriched nuclear material, dismantle major components of its nuclear program, and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to a senior White House official cited by Israel Hayom and confirmed in separate Reuters reporting.

The emerging memorandum of understanding, described by U.S. officials as having an 80% to 85% chance of being signed, is being framed by the Trump administration as a performance-based deal — one in which Iran receives no immediate economic relief simply for signing. Instead, sanctions relief and other benefits would be granted only after Tehran takes verified steps to comply.

“The enriched material will be destroyed and removed from Iran, the nuclear program will be dismantled, and the framework being built will enable long-term oversight,” the senior White House official told Israel Hayom.

According to Reuters, the proposed framework would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz, lifting the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, and securing U.S. access to enriched nuclear material, while Iran commits to never developing a nuclear weapon. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Friday that a “final, agreed upon text” had been reached, with Pakistan playing a significant mediation role.

Under the draft arrangement, Iran would not be rewarded upfront. The White House official said the agreement is built around an “action for action” mechanism because neither side trusts the other.

“If they bring the enriched material, they will get something. If they dismantle facilities, they will get something else,” the official said. “They get nothing immediately just because they sign the agreement.”

President Donald Trump on Friday pushed back sharply against what he said were false Iranian leaks about the terms of the deal, writing that the terms Iran leaked “have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing.” Reuters reported that Trump accused Iranian sources of misrepresenting the agreement, while U.S. officials insisted the deal includes no immediate release of funds or benefits absent concrete Iranian compliance.

The agreement would reportedly be followed by a 60-day technical negotiation phase, during which officials would determine how enriched material will be destroyed or removed, which nuclear facilities will be dismantled, and how long-term verification will be enforced. Europe has been discussed as a possible venue for those talks, according to Reuters.

The White House official said Washington has remained in close contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials in Jerusalem, and that President Trump spoke with Netanyahu on Thursday. The official said Israeli concerns were understandable but argued that Jerusalem would be more comfortable once it reviewed the full terms.

“When Israel sees the full terms of the agreement and understands that Iran has to give up significant things before it receives anything at all, it will be more comfortable with the arrangement,” the official said.

At the same time, the administration emphasized that the agreement would not limit Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran or its terrorist proxies, including Hezbollah.

“If the Iranians do not fulfill their part, I will not expect Israel to honor it,” the official said. “We are not denying any country the right to self-defense.”

The broader regional framework reportedly includes Iran, Lebanon, Israel, and Gulf states, with Washington expecting Tehran to restrain its proxies and end support for terrorism and regional violence. The official said if Hezbollah continues firing rockets at Israel, or if Iran continues funding missiles launched at the Jewish state, Tehran would be violating the spirit and substance of the deal.

The official also said U.S. intelligence and security assessments indicate that Iran’s leadership, including Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, is “comfortable” with the emerging arrangement, though hardline elements inside Iran are attempting to portray the deal domestically as a victory for Tehran.

The Trump administration is presenting the agreement as the product of military pressure, economic leverage, and regional diplomacy following months of conflict. The senior official said Iran’s military and force-projection capabilities were badly damaged during the war, and that the new framework now seeks to convert that battlefield pressure into a verifiable diplomatic outcome.

“If they choose the path of peace, they will enjoy significant economic benefits and integration into the global economy,” the official said. “If not, we will continue to use economic and diplomatic pressure.”

Still, many remain deeply skeptical that any signed document can restrain a regime whose hostility toward the Jewish state is not merely strategic, but ideological and theological. Iran’s ruling system is rooted in Twelver Shiite doctrine, which anticipates the return of the Mahdi, or “Hidden Imam,” an end-times figure believed by adherents to restore justice and establish divine rule. Analysts have long warned that this apocalyptic worldview shapes how Tehran’s leaders interpret conflict, sacrifice, and confrontation with Israel and the West.

That concern is sharpened by decades of revolutionary rhetoric from Tehran, where chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” have not been fringe slogans but recurring features of the Islamic Republic’s political culture. For Israeli officials and many regional observers, those words are not dismissed as mere propaganda. They are viewed as a window into a regime that has built its legitimacy around resistance to the United States, the destruction of Israel, and the export of revolutionary Islamist power through proxies such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.

This is why skepticism extends far beyond the technical details of centrifuges, uranium stockpiles, and inspection timetables. For many in Israel, the central question is whether a regime shaped by messianic expectation, revolutionary ideology, and decades of hostility toward the Jewish state can ever be trusted to permanently abandon the nuclear threshold. From Jerusalem’s perspective, Iran’s nuclear program has never been merely a civilian energy project, but part of a broader campaign to alter the balance of power in the Middle East and keep Israel under an existential shadow.

For that reason, any agreement will be judged not by diplomatic language but by enforceable results. If Iran truly dismantles its nuclear infrastructure, surrenders enriched material, stops funding terror proxies, and ends its calls for Israel’s destruction, the region may see a historic opening. But if Tehran uses diplomacy to buy time, preserve hidden capabilities, and continue arming its proxies, Israeli leaders are likely to conclude that the deal has not ended the threat — it has merely postponed the next confrontation.

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