Asked about the timeframe for the United States and Iran to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) permanently ending the war between them, U.S. President Donald Trump responded that it could take one week.

Speaking during a phone interview with Fox News, the president sounded cautiously optimistic regarding the potential diplomatic breakthrough. However, observers note that Mr. Trump has been known to offer varying timelines pertaining to the ongoing Iran talks during the unprompted phone calls he frequently takes from journalists.

The president’s timeframe follows a report by Axios earlier in the day, which indicated that the U.S. is expecting a response from Iran regarding the MoU within the next 48 hours. It remains unclear whether Trump is suggesting that an additional few days of negotiations would still be required following Tehran’s anticipated response.

The prospective agreement reportedly seeks to remove Iran’s highly enriched uranium and place a moratorium on all uranium enrichment for at least 12 years. Nevertheless, the deal would eventually permit limited enrichment and would not mandate the removal of Iran’s full nuclear stockpile.

Nuclear experts are closely analyzing the reality of dismantling Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure, particularly following the June 2025 war with Iran and the current conflict.

Analyst David Albright told Channel 12 the recent military conflicts “have changed the situation dramatically.” Albright noted that satellite imagery demonstrates that Israel “significantly” degraded Iran’s ability to manufacture nuclear weapons through past strikes, though he cautioned that “you can’t eliminate it a hundred percent.”

Addressing the potential removal of the full uranium stockpile, Albright stated that “given the destruction of [Iran’s] centrifuge program” during previous U.S. and Israeli military strikes, “we would really have years before we’d have to think about Iran enriching significant amounts of weapon-grade uranium.”

Ultimately, Albright emphasized the practical limitations of the current diplomatic efforts. “What you’re trying to do is lengthen the time and reduce the chance of success,” he explained. “If the goal is to eliminate a nuclear program to where it can never be reconstituted or rebuilt, I think that’s not a realistic goal.”