Iran reportedly delayed finalizing a peace agreement with the United States to avoid coinciding with President Donald Trump's 80th birthday on June 14. According to two Iranian officials cited by The New York Times, Iran intentionally postponed the agreement until after midnight local time to prevent the announcement from overlapping with the president's birthday.
The 7.5-hour time difference between the U.S. and Iran allowed both sides to interpret the timing of the agreement differently. President Trump announced the conclusion of negotiations with Iran via Truth Social at approximately 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time on June 14. However, in Iran, it was already around 1 a.m. on June 15.
This discrepancy means that the U.S. could view the agreement as having been reached on Trump's birthday, while Iran could argue that it was finalized after the date had changed.
Previously, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) criticized Trump for his focus on concluding the negotiations on his birthday. In a post on their Telegram channel on June 13, the IRGC claimed that Trump was unusually fixated on securing the signing on June 14.
They suggested that some believe Trump's insistence on this timing was an attempt to symbolically use the signing ceremony for personal promotion.
Within Iran, there is growing opposition to the peace negotiations with the U.S., particularly among hardliners like the IRGC. Protests erupted on June 13 outside the Foreign Ministry building in Mashhad, condemning Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who led the negotiations.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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