Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

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<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1776384967053photo-collage.pngcc_cropped_processed_by_imagy.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">US President Donald Trump and Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran&#x27;s new supreme leader. <em>📷༘ Jim Watson/AFP and Khamenei.IR via AFP</em><br/></span></span></span></div><p>WASHINGTON, United States — US President Donald Trump said Thursday Washington and Tehran were &quot;very close&quot; to a peace deal and insisted that Iran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium, a key sticking point in negotiations.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/10/iran-s-supreme-leader-says-does-not-seek-war-in-written-message-0740">Iran&#x27;s supreme leader says does not seek war in written message</a></div><p>The United States had earlier threatened to resume airstrikes on the Islamic republic and maintain a naval blockade of its ports if Tehran refused to accept a deal to solve the conflict that broke out on February 28.</p><p>At the same time, a ceasefire came into effect between Israel and Lebanon -- a 10-day truce -- with Trump saying he expected the two countries&#x27; leaders at the White House within &quot;four or five days.&quot;</p><p>Hezbollah has not said if it recognizes the ceasefire -- but a senior figure said it would respect it if Israeli attacks on the militants stopped.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/16/us-says-optimistic-about-reaching-peace-deal-with-iran-1530">US says optimistic about reaching peace deal with Iran</a></div><p>But Israel&#x27;s army said it was striking Hezbollah rocket launchers after fire from Lebanon shortly before the ceasefire was due to begin.</p><p>The prime ministers for both countries welcomed the ceasefire, which came days after the US and Iran agreed to a separate truce and as Pakistan pursued diplomatic efforts to arrange a new round of talks between foes Washington and Tehran.</p><p>On Thursday, Pakistan&#x27;s powerful army chief Asim Munir met Iran&#x27;s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation at the first round of talks last week, which ended without a deal.</p><p>Iran&#x27;s UN ambassador later said Tehran was &quot;cautiously optimistic&quot; about peace talks with the United States, expressing hope for a &quot;meaningful outcome.&quot;</p><p>US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday &quot;if Iran chooses poorly, then they will have a blockade and bombs dropping on infrastructure, power and energy.&quot;</p><p>Trump later told reporters that &quot;there&#x27;s a very good chance we&#x27;re going to make a deal&quot; with Tehran.</p><p>&quot;They&#x27;ve agreed to give us back the nuclear dust,&quot; he said, using his label for the enriched uranium stockpile that Washington says could be used for nuclear weapons.</p><p>Trump has offered no details about any transfer, and Iran has given no public indication it would surrender its stockpile.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;INDISPUTABLE&#x27; RIGHT TO URANIUM </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Trump has insisted any deal with Iran must permanently block it from acquiring nuclear weapons.</p><p>He launched the war claiming Tehran was rushing to complete an atomic bomb, an assertion unsupported by the UN nuclear watchdog.</p><p>Washington has reportedly sought a 20-year suspension of Iran&#x27;s uranium enrichment program, while Tehran has proposed suspending nuclear activity for five years -- an offer US officials rejected.</p><p>Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.</p><p>Iran insisted Wednesday its right to enrich uranium was &quot;indisputable&quot;, although the level of enrichment was &quot;negotiable.&quot;</p><p>The US House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a Democratic effort to curb Trump&#x27;s authority to wage war in Iran, with lawmakers wary of soaring costs, an unclear endgame and the risk of a wider conflict.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;AN ABYSS&#x27; </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had told reporters Wednesday further talks between the US and Iran &quot;would very likely&quot; be in Islamabad.</p><p>Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said no date had been set for the next round of talks.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/14/us-seeking-20-year-pause-of-iran-uranium-enrichment-media-reports-1333">US seeking 20-year pause of Iran uranium enrichment: media reports</a></div><p>US Vice President JD Vance, who led the first round, has said Iran is being offered a &quot;grand bargain&quot; to end the war and address the decades-old dispute over Tehran&#x27;s nuclear program.</p><p>Israel&#x27;s defense minister Israel Katz said Iran was &quot;standing at a historic crossroads&quot; and not pursuing a deal &quot;leads to an abyss.&quot;</p><p>Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world&#x27;s crude oil normally flows, has been disrupted by Iran since the US-Israeli offensive began, and is now the focus of the US blockade.</p><p>Around 2100 GMT, Brent North Sea Crude had risen 3.24 percent to $98.01.</p><p>Washington has sought to escalate pressure on Tehran by blockading its ports, with US Central Command claiming to have &quot;completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea&quot; by turning back 13 vessels departing Iranian ports.</p><p>Maximizing pressure, Washington slapped fresh sanctions on Iran&#x27;s oil industry on Wednesday, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said targeted &quot;regime elites.&quot;</p><p>Unless Washington relents, Iran&#x27;s armed forces &quot;will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea,&quot; said the head of the Iranian military&#x27;s central command center Ali Abdollahi.</p><p>The military adviser to Iran&#x27;s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei also warned that Iran would sink American ships in the strait if the United States decides to &quot;police&quot; the key shipping channel.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mh3bAELaaYY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-cSYy4M3kEs?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_riUvqOE6i0?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>US President Donald Trump said Thursday Washington and Tehran were "very close" to a peace deal and insisted that Iran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium, a key sticking point in negotiations.</p>

US President Donald Trump said Thursday Washington and Tehran were "very close" to a peace deal and insisted that Iran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium, a key sticking point in negotiations.

Trump says Iran agrees to hand over its enriched uranium

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Trump says Iran agrees to hand over its enriched uranium

AFP teams in Washington,

Tehran,

Islamabad,

Beirut,

Jerusalem and Dubai

Published April 17, 2026 08:15 AM PHT

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Updated April 17, 2026 08:19 AM PHT

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Agence France-Presse

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