Trump says US wont extend Iran MOU as 60-day deadline for peace talks expires

WASHINGTON — President Trump confirmed the US isn’t expanding the window for peace talks with Tehran on Monday as the US-Iran memorandum of understanding’s 60-day deadline for negogiations expired.“Well, they want to make a deal, but they’re not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary,” President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.

The president has demanded a ceasefire that will end Iran’s nuclear program but Tehran wants to pursue a “nuclear energy” program.The MOU failed to meet major objectives, like reopening the Strait of Hormuz, ending Tehran’s nuclear program and reaching a final peace deal.Its provisions allow for an extension of talks, but those have been dead for weeks — and now boths sides agree any extension is pointless.Iran’s foreign ministry also ruled out additional talks.“We did not start any negotiations at all, and the US violated the understanding from the very beginning; therefore, the 60-day issue is not relevant,” Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for the ministry, said. When Trump signed the MOU with his big sharpie pen in the halls of Versailles with French President Emmanuel Macron by his side, his administration called it proof positive the president could stop the “endless” cycle of war in the Middle East.In the days after it was signed on June 17, Trump lashed out at critics of the deal.“These fools, who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are ‘tumbling’ down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in June.He also told critics to let the 60 days play out.Now, two months later, things appear to be at a stand still.While there have been no publicly reported US military strikes on Iran since late July, the Trump administration is switching to a new weapon: an economic sword to gut the already devastated Iranian economy.“Watch this space for more announcements coming...