Details of a potential US-Iran deal are beginning to emerge after Trump announced progress
US President Donald Trump said a deal with Iran on the Middle East conflict, including opening the Strait of Hormuz, was “very negotiated” after calls with Israel and other regional allies over the weekend.
But other officials cautioned on Sunday, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio noting that “great progress, although no progress has been made” in the talks.
Rubio, on a four-day trip to India for meetings with Indian, Australian and Japanese officials, said he hoped there would be good news in the coming hours.
The talks succeeded in one of Trump’s main goals, Rubio said: “That is a country that no longer has to fear or worry about an Iranian nuclear weapon.”
Trump said on Saturday he spoke with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, and separately with Israel.
“Final aspects and details of the Deal are being discussed, and will be announced soon,” Trump said on social media, without elaborating.
The announcement capped a week in which the US threatened a new round of attacks on the Islamic Republic that would break a fragile ceasefire.
Details of the deal are beginning to emerge
A potential deal would include Iran’s commitment not to pursue a nuclear weapon, and Tehran agreeing to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, according to two regional officials.
Another official, with direct knowledge of the talks, said how Iran would give up its highly enriched uranium was a subject that would continue to be negotiated during the 60-day period.
It is highly likely that part of the amount will be laundered, while the rest will be transferred to a third country, possibly Russia, he said.
Iran has 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent, which is a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Strait of Hormuz will gradually open in line with the US lifting its embargo on Iranian ports, the official said.
The US will also allow Iran to sell its oil through sanctions, said a second official briefed on the talks. Sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian funds will be negotiated within 60 days, he said.
US President Donald Trump has justified the war with Iran by saying that the country is two weeks away from having a nuclear weapon. Nationally, CBC’s Eli Glasner debunks those claims and how close Iran was to developing a nuke.
Both officials said the draft agreement included an end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as a commitment not to interfere in the domestic affairs of countries in the region. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door discussions.
It has been twelve weeks since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, killed senior Iranian officials, including their supreme leader, and disrupted nuclear talks between the US and Iran for the second time in less than a year. Iran has fired back at Israel and neighbors who hosted US troops, shaking Gulf states that considered them safe havens in the troubled region.
The ceasefire has been in place since April 7. But Iran’s decision to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz to ships carrying the region’s oil, natural gas and other sensitive goods has been the center of global concern and economic pain.
Israel is concerned about Hezbollah
Israeli officials are concerned that Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group allied with Iran, remains a major threat to Israel and that Lebanon is ill-equipped to disarm it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Trump that Israel “retains freedom of action against threats on all fronts, including Lebanon,” according to an official familiar with the conversation. The official spoke and asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
The official said Trump had made it clear to Netanyahu that he would not sign any final deal without the conditions that Iran dismantle its entire nuclear program and remove all enriched uranium from the country.
Israel’s Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and part of his national security cabinet, told Israel Army Radio on Sunday morning that Israel is taking a “wait-and-see” approach.
There has been a fragile, US-brokered ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon since April 17, a conflict that began two days after the start of the Iran war.
Despite the ceasefire, firing continues on both sides. Hezbollah is launching drones and projectiles every day at Israeli and northern Israeli forces, and Israel is attacking Lebanon while its soldiers occupy many areas in southern Lebanon.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in recent clashes, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health. Additionally, 22 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor were killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians were killed in northern Israel, mostly by Hezbollah vehicles, according to Netanyahu’s office.
