Details began to emerge on Tuesday of the US and Iran’s interim deal to end the war in the Middle East. US president Donald Trump said the agreement will rule out a nuclear weapon for Tehran, while a US official said it allows Iran to sell oil upon signing.
The interim deal is set to extend a tenuous ceasefire announced in April by another 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked since the US and Israel attacked it in February.
The US president said the text of the deal states clearly that Tehran will not have a nuclear weapon and the full agreement would be made public in a formal setting in a few days.
A senior US official said the agreement enables Iran to begin selling oil and fuel immediately and includes banking, transportation and insurance services to facilitate the sales.
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Negotiators will address difficult issues such as the future of Iran’s nuclear programme during the next phase of talks, which Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said would start in Switzerland on Friday after the signing of the framework pact.
Two other issues that Trump and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu used to justify the war – ending Iran’s support for regional armed proxies and curbing its missile programme – are not thought to be on the agenda for those negotiations.
“Iran wants to get it done,” said Trump about the next phase of negotiations. “They have to get back to business ... so I think it’s going to go pretty quickly.”
Oil prices fell more than 2 per cent to new three-month lows on Tuesday, though industry officials say Middle East oil and gas output will take months to recover fully.
Both sides still face pressures following a conflict in which at least 7,000 were killed, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and upended global energy markets.
US and Iranian officials say the deal could eventually deliver substantial economic benefits to Iran by lifting sanctions and unfreezing foreign assets. It could also set up a $300 billion (€260 billion) reconstruction fund, paid for by neighbouring Gulf states that host US military bases and were hit by Iranian attacks during the war.
US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Iran would have to satisfy Washington’s demands never to build a nuclear weapon and cut off support for militias, such as Hizbullah in Lebanon, to get those benefits. Iranian officials, who have always denied intending to build a nuclear weapon, say they have given up little by agreeing to resume diplomatic discussions over Iran’s uranium enrichment programme that were interrupted by the war.
Both sides say the strait, which normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s trade in oil and liquefied natural gas, will be open from Friday. On Tuesday, Iranian state television reported operations to lift its maritime blockade, while stressing that vessels must still co-ordinate with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Trump said earlier that tankers were starting to move out of the strait.
The US said the narrow waterway would be open toll-free for 60 days and it expected that provision to be part of a final agreement. Iran has suggested it will retain control with Oman over the strait. Shippers say a return to normal traffic will be gradual.
The Israeli attack on Iran-allied Hizbullah in Lebanon, which has uprooted 1.2 million people, remains another complication.
Iran has said the deal requires a full cessation of hostilities there, but Netanyahu said Israel would keep its forces in southern Lebanon and retain the right to respond to Hizbullah attacks. – Reuters
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