Trump says Iran deal is ‘all signed’, details remain unclear
Written by: Steve Holland, Parisa Hafezi and Maayan Lubell
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France/DUBAI/JERUSALEM, June 15 (Reuters) – A preliminary agreement to end the war in the Gulf has been signed by the United States and Iran, but details have not yet been made public, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday.
“The entire agreement has been signed,” Trump said after arriving in France for the summit of the G7 group of major economies, adding that Vice President J.D. Vance would attend an official signing ceremony in Geneva on Friday.
The deal would reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and extend the ceasefire for 60 days, allowing negotiators to address thorny issues such as the future of Iran’s nuclear program. Oil prices fell to their lowest level since March 10, shortly after conflict cut off a fifth of world oil supplies.
The agreement is the most significant step yet toward resolving the conflict that has killed at least 7,000 people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and roiled global energy markets.
However, much about the agreement remains unknown.
U.S. and Iranian officials say it could bring significant economic benefits to Iran by lifting sanctions, unfreezing foreign assets and establishing a $300 billion reconstruction fund paid for by neighboring Gulf allies.
U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that in order for Iran to benefit from these advantages, it must meet U.S. demands never to build nuclear weapons and cut its support for proxy militias such as Hezbollah.
US officials said details would be announced in the next two days.
Trump appears to have accomplished little of what he set out to do when he attacked Israel and Iran on February 28. While Iran’s theocratic government remains in place, its demands that Tehran dismantle its ballistic missile program and end its support for regional militias such as Hezbollah have not been met.
This also does not resolve the fate of Iran’s uranium stockpile. Iranian officials, who have always denied that they intend to build nuclear weapons, say they have given up little.
Although the deal removes Iranian pressure on the Strait of Hormuz, it only restores the pre-war status quo, and shippers say navigation will resume only after security is restored.
Iran claimed that it would maintain control of the strait in Oman. The US has said the strait will be open free of charge for 60 days and expects this provision to be part of the final agreement.
NETANYAHU SAID THAT HE WAS ‘PATIENT’
The parallel war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, which has displaced 1.2 million people, also remains a sticking point.
Iran has said the deal calls for a complete cessation of hostilities there, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will keep its forces in southern Lebanon and reserve the right to respond to Hezbollah attacks.
“Iran asked us to withdraw, but I was adamant,” he said at a news conference, acknowledging that he and Trump had differences of opinion on the conflict.
A US official said Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon was not a condition of the agreement.
Security sources said that after the agreement was announced, the clashes were suppressed but did not end completely.
Lebanese state media reported that an Israeli drone crashed into a car in the town of Kfar Tebnit in southern Lebanon, killing the driver. Netanyahu said Israeli forces killed four “militants”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that Israel’s attacks should be stopped immediately.
Privately, Israeli officials’ views on the agreement are negative. A senior official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the deal was “terrible for Israel” and that this assessment was shared by the entire government since Netanyahu.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus, Writing by Andy Sullivan and Peter Graff, Editing by Hugh Lawson and Sanjeev Miglani)
