PDB Afternoon Bulletin | June 12th, 2026: Trump Clashes With Tehran Over Leaked Iran Deal & Washington Tightens The Screws On Cuba

**Mike Baker** (0:12)
It's Friday, the 12th of June. Welcome to The PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, if you've been confused over the status and negotiations between the US and the Iranian regime, well, you're in very good company. Yesterday, President Trump suggested a deal with Iran could be just days away. Today, leaked details of that proposed agreement are raising new questions about what both sides are actually prepared to accept. We'll break down the competing versions of the proposed deal and why the negotiations appear to be far from settled. Later in the show, the US State Department increases the pressure on Cuba's communist regime, announcing new sanctions on the government's state-owned oil company, further tightening the screws on the island's energy crisis.
But first, today's afternoon spotlight. Just one day after President Trump announced that a deal with Iran was close at hand, new details about the proposed agreement are raising questions about what exactly Washington and Tehran may or may not have agreed to.
And in a sign of just how fluid the situation remains, President Trump is now publicly pushing back against reports describing the contents of the deal. According to Reuters, versions of a proposed memorandum circulating among Western officials and Pakistani mediators and Iranian sources appear to outline a framework that would largely favor the Iranian regime. That reporting prompted an angry response from Trump on Friday, who accused Iran of leaking inaccurate information about the negotiations. In a post on social media, Trump wrote that the terms Iran provided to the press had quote, nothing to do with the terms that were agreed to in writing, calling Iranian officials quote, very dishonorable people to deal with, end quote. Well, to be fair, they do have a track record of never negotiating in good faith. The dispute comes just days after the region appeared to be moving back toward a broader conflict. As we've been tracking here on the PDB, the US launched multiple rounds of strikes against Iranian targets this week, while Tehran responded with attacks on US positions and continued pressure on shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
Yet despite the military escalation, negotiations appeared to have continued in some fashion behind the scenes. According to Reuters, multiple versions of the proposed memorandum suggest the US would eventually release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets and ease sanctions on Iranian oil exports. In return, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and enter a new 60-day negotiating process aimed at reaching a broader settlement. But perhaps the most striking detail is what reportedly does not appear in the leaked versions of the agreement. For months, Washington has insisted that any long-term deal must address Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which now reportedly exceeds 400 kilograms and sits near weapons-grade purity. Yet Reuters reports that none of the draft text reviewed by its sources explicitly requires Iran to surrender or destroy that stockpile. Instead, discussion of Iran's nuclear program would reportedly be deferred to a future round of negotiations, while Iran would simply reaffirm its long-standing position that it does not seek nuclear weapons. That omission appears to be one reason the White House is now pushing back so aggressively. A senior US official told Reuters that any final agreement would still require Iran's enriched uranium stockpile to be removed and destroyed, while economic benefits would only be delivered to the regime if the regime fulfills its obligations. Vice President JD. Vance also emphasized that any sanctions relief would be tied to Iranian compliance. In other words, Washington is strongly disputing the leaked descriptions of the agreement, saying they do not accurately reflect the terms that have been under discussion.
Meanwhile, several key issues remain unresolved. It sounds like the whole thing remains unresolved, but that's just me being churlish. Reuters reports that negotiators are still struggling to reach an agreement on language related to Lebanon, where Iran has demanded that Israel halt military operations against Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has already indicated that Israel will not be a party to the memorandum, highlighting growing tensions between Washington and Jerusalem over the direction of the negotiations.
Despite those disagreements, both American and Iranian officials are signaling that progress is being made. What? Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aradchi said Friday that the memorandum has, quote, never been closer, while sources involved in the talks told Reuters that a signing ceremony could take place as early as Sunday, potentially involving Vice President JD. Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bakr Ghalibov in Geneva. But at this stage, officials on all sides continue to stress that nothing is final. Well, yeah, that does seem obvious.