Middle East crisis live: fate of strait of Hormuz hangs in balance as Trump claims Iran deal ‘largely negotiated’ | Middle East and north Africa
important events
Donald Trump made the announcement via a Truth Social post and said he had spoken by phone with several leaders in the Middle East, including a separate call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he said “went very well.”
The final aspects and details of the agreement are currently being discussed and will be announced shortly. “Among many other elements of the agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will also be opened.”
As we mentioned in the summary, Fars news agency, which is close to the regime in Tehran, said that Trump’s claim that the deal was almost finalized was “inconsistent with reality.”
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live broadcast covering the Iran war and the broader Middle East crisis.
Donald Trump announced after talks with a Pakistani mediator, Gulf allies and Israel that a peace deal with Iran was “substantially negotiated” and would potentially pave the way for an end to the war the US and Israel launched in February.
Trump wrote that the “final aspects and details” of the “Memorandum of Understanding” were still being discussed and “will be announced shortly,” but said the Strait of Hormuz would be opened as part of the agreement.
However, the Fars news agency, which is close to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the strait would remain under Iranian control and that Trump’s claim that the agreement was almost final was “inconsistent with reality.”
Three senior Iranian officials he told the New York Times The agreement would halt hostilities in Iran and Lebanon and could free Iran’s $25 billion in assets frozen abroad, with a nuclear deal to be negotiated within 30 to 60 days.
We will inform you of the latest developments as they occur.
