Iran live updates: US intel pessimistic about Iran making nuclear concessions

The U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding is due to be signed on Friday.

President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.

Following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, initial U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan in April failed to reach a peace deal. Trump later announced the open-ended extension of the ceasefire and the continuation of a U.S. blockade until negotiations concluded.

On Sunday, Trump announced that the U.S. and Iran had reached a "great deal," which he said would be signed on Friday.

Vice President JD Vance said that President Donald Trump could release the text of the memorandum of understanding as soon as Wednesday, but tried to downplay its release overall.

"The president said by the latest Friday, possibly as early as tomorrow, we're going to release the memorandum of understanding text," Vance said on Megyn Kelly’s radio show Tuesday.

"Fundamentally, does it really matter if the deal comes out on Wednesday versus Friday? No. That's why we haven't emphasized it so much is because at the very latest, the text is going to be out on Friday," Vance said.

The vice president also reiterated that any financial relief, including sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets, would be tied to Iran’s behavior.

Vance said that enrichment was "on the table" in the along with verification and inspection, though it was not clear if this was an agreement to limit all enrichment.

"If they want the benefits of the bargain, enrichment is going to be on the table and more importantly verification and inspections is going to be on the table," Vance said.

Intelligence gathered by U.S. agencies presents a pessimistic outlook on whether the Iranian regime will ultimately agree to nuclear concessions sought by the Trump administration during detailed negotiations set to take place in the coming weeks, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

The findings, which are largely based on signals intelligence gathered from senior Iranian officials, were presented to the president and other members of his cabinet by CIA Director John Ratcliffe in the days before the memorandum of understanding with Iran was electronically signed, they said.

Israel has also shared intelligence with the U.S. that suggests Iran will not agree to a final deal the Trump administration would deem acceptable, but it’s unclear whether the president was briefed on those findings, one official said.

The findings of the U.S. agencies