President Donald Trump is close to signing a significant nuclear deal with Iran, Axios reported Tuesday, citing multiple sources familiar with the talks. The potential agreement would represent a sharp turnaround for an administration that withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and imposed sweeping sanctions on Tehran.
What Axios reported
According to Axios, negotiations between the U.S. and Iran have advanced to the point that a deal could be finalized soon. The report did not name specific officials or provide details on the terms being discussed, but described the emerging agreement as “significant.” The news outlet said the talks were conducted through intermediaries, with neither side publicly acknowledging the progress until now.
A reversal from past policy
Trump campaigned on dismantling the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, calling it a “disaster” and a “horrible one-sided deal.” In 2018, he pulled the U.S. out of the agreement and reinstated crippling sanctions, arguing that the deal did not address Iran’s ballistic missile program or its regional activities. Iran responded by gradually exceeding the deal’s limits on uranium enrichment. If Trump now signs a new pact, it would mark one of the most abrupt foreign policy pivots of his presidency.
Key details still unknown
No information has been released about the potential deal’s structure. That includes whether it would reimpose restrictions on Iran’s enrichment capacity, how existing sanctions would be eased, or what verification mechanisms would be in place. The Axios report also did not clarify whether the agreement would be a binding treaty requiring Senate approval or an executive agreement. The original JCPOA was never ratified by Congress, a point critics frequently raised.
What comes next
It remains unclear when or where a signing might take place. The White House has not commented on the report. Iran’s government has made no public statement. The reported breakthrough follows months of quiet diplomacy, but without concrete terms, it is impossible to assess whether the deal can withstand the political opposition that doomed its predecessor.
