Deal with Iran, opening of Strait of Hormuz ‘largely negotiated’: Trump
“Final aspects and details of the agreement are currently being discussed and will be announced shortly,” Trump said on social media, without providing any details. He said he met separately with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, as well as with Israel.
He stated that this was a “Memorandum of Understanding on PEACE” that still needs to be finalized by the United States, Iran and other countries participating in the calls. This capped a week in which the United States was considering a new round of attacks against the Islamic Republic that would disrupt the fragile ceasefire.
There was no mention of Iran’s nuclear program and highly enriched uranium, which it later tried to discuss. There has been no statement from Iran or Israel yet. Trump said his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been pressuring the United States to enter the war, went “very well.”
Optimism is rising among officials
Earlier Saturday, a regional official with direct knowledge of Pakistan-led mediation efforts said the United States and Iran were nearing a deal to end the war.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door talks, warned that “last-minute disagreements” could thwart the efforts. This isn’t the first time a deal has been described as close in recent weeks. The agreement would include a formal declaration that the war is over, along with two months of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, the official said. The Strait of Hormuz will reopen and the US will end its blockade of Iranian ports.
Meanwhile, Iran had signaled that “differences have diminished” in the negotiations after Pakistani army chief Asim Munir held more talks in Tehran.
Twelve weeks have passed since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, killing senior Iranian officials, including its supreme leader, and disrupting nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran for the second time in less than a year. Iran opened fire on Israel and its neighbors hosting US forces, shaking Gulf states that see themselves as a safe haven in a difficult region.
The ceasefire has been in effect since April 7. But Iran’s decision to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz to ships carrying regional oil, natural gas and other critical supplies has become the focus of global concern and economic pain.
Iran calls it a ‘framework agreement’ for further negotiations
Iranian state television had previously quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as describing the draft as a “framework agreement”, adding: “We want it to include the main issues needed to end the imposed war and other issues that are vital for us. Then, within a reasonable period of 30 to 60 days, the details will be discussed and a final agreement will be reached.”
He said that the Strait of Hormuz was also among the issues discussed.
However, Baghaei told Iran’s official IRNA news agency that nuclear issues were not part of the current negotiations.
“Our focus at this stage is to end the war on all fronts, including Lebanon,” he said, adding that lifting sanctions against Tehran “is clearly included in the text and remains our fixed position.”
Iran-backed Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported that the leader of the Lebanese militant group received a letter from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stating that Tehran will not abandon its allies. There is a fragile US-brokered ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon, which began two days after the start of the Iran war.
Trump said ‘serious negotiations are ongoing’
Trump had previously said he was postponing a military strike against Iran as “serious negotiations” were ongoing and at the request of his allies in the Middle East. Trump repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and then backtracked.
Iran is rebuilding its military assets and if Trump continues the attacks, the outcome will be “even more crushing and more painful” than at the beginning of the war, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the chief negotiator for historic face-to-face talks with the United States in Islamabad last month, said on Saturday.
State television said he spoke after a meeting with Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir, who also met with Araghchi, President Massoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials. Qatar sent a senior official to Tehran to support Pakistan’s efforts.
The stated objectives of the war were not achieved. Iran still has enriched uranium and a missile program that it says is being rebuilt. It continues to support armed deputies in the region. Although the new religious leader has not been seen in public since the beginning of the war, he is the son of the previous one and is close to the powerful Revolutionary Guard.
And the Iranian people did not rebel against the government, as both Trump and Netanyahu predicted after nationwide protests earlier this year.
