Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Jun 20: US President Donald Trump has said he expects Iran to reach a final agreement with the United States within 60 days of signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU), warning that failure to do so could trigger actions Tehran would not welcome.
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday, Trump expressed optimism that negotiations would succeed but cautioned against delays.
“If a deal is not reached within 60 days starting Thursday, we will take steps that they won't be happy about. But I don't think it will come to that,” he said.
According to the terms of the memorandum of understanding, both sides have committed to concluding a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days, with the possibility of extending the deadline if both parties consent.
Meanwhile, a scheduled round of US-Iran talks in Switzerland has been postponed, with neither side officially stating the reason for the delay. However, multiple media reports suggested that Iran withdrew from the discussions following recent Israeli military strikes in Lebanon.
Earlier on Friday, Trump told NBC News that he had spoken with Israeli leaders and encouraged them to support a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.
Calling the development encouraging, Trump said, “It’s a positive. It’s a little icing on the cake.”
The US State Department also announced that a new round of discussions between Israel and Lebanon will take place in Washington, D.C., next week.
Separately, Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed the postponement of planned talks involving the United States, Iran, Qatar and Pakistan.
In a statement, the department said Switzerland remained prepared to facilitate the negotiations and that preparatory work at Burgenstock was continuing, although no additional details were available at this stage.
The postponed talks were expected to move beyond a political framework and focus on implementation, verification and compliance mechanisms related to the recently signed understanding.
On Thursday night, the White House announced that planned travel by US Vice President JD Vance for technical negotiations with Iran had also been delayed.
However, officials stressed that preparations for the next phase of discussions were still underway.
A White House spokesperson said that although travel arrangements had not been finalised, the US delegation remained ready to depart at the earliest opportunity as both sides continued to work toward implementing the memorandum of understanding.