US and Iran reach tentative deal, pending Trump’s approval

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US and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative framework agreement on Thursday to extend the Iran war ceasefire by 60 days and launch negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program towards a final deal, according to US officials quoted by international outlets.

Sources said the broad outlines of a tentative deal have been reached, but US President Donald Trump still needs to sign off on the emerging memorandum of understanding, AP reported.

The deal would include a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, reports claim.

Tehran did not immediately confirm that any deal was reached with Washington.

However, a member of Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Fada Hossein Maleki, told news agency ISNA that “a large part of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s proposals have been accepted”.

“The only concern is the unpredictability of Trump and the lapses in commitments that we have witnessed so far from the United States,” Maleki said.

The tentative agreement emerged after hopes of a deal nearly faded, as both the US and Iran have started exchanging fire over the last 24 hours amid a fragile ceasefire.

Earlier on Thursday, Iran’s Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said that the US and Israel are seeking to destabilise the Islamic Republic and ‘bring nation to its knees’ according to a written message read on state television.

“The enemy’s blind plan, after the imposed war, economic pressure, and political and propaganda siege, is to create divisions and disintegration in order to compensate for military defeats and bring the nation to its knees,” Khamenei said.

Separately, according to Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency, a number of vessels attempting to transit westbound through the waterway were stopped and turned back because they did not coordinate with Iran’s newly formed Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) and ignored warnings from the IRGC Navy.

The IRGC Navy said in a statement that “smart control” of the Strait of Hormuz was being carried out, claiming that 26 commercial and oil tankers had passed through the corridor over the past 24 hours after obtaining clearance and coordination with the IRGC.

Trump said on Wednesday he was not yet satisfied with Tehran’s offers to make a deal — otherwise the US will “have to finish the job” — after Iranian state-run television reported details of what it claimed was a draft agreement.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting in the White House, Trump added that he was in no rush to reach an accord to end the Iran war, despite saying at the weekend that one was close.

“Iran is very much intent, they want very much to make a deal. So far they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be,” Trump said.

Iranian state-run television said earlier Wednesday that a draft outline of a memorandum of understanding with Washington included a commitment to lift the naval blockade on Iran, restore traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and withdraw US forces from the Gulf.

The White House called the report a “complete fabrication”.

The Strait of Hormuz has been largely closed to international shipping since the war began on 28 February.

Under normal conditions, approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil and a significant volume of non-oil goods pass through the waterway daily. Its closure has pushed energy prices sharply higher and disrupted global supply chains.