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US, Iran Reach Tentative Deal 05/29 06:07
U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative agreement Thursday to
extend the ceasefire in the 3-month-old war by 60 days and start a new round of
talks on Iran's nuclear program, according to a U.S. official familiar with the
matter.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative
agreement Thursday to extend the ceasefire in the 3-month-old war by 60 days
and start a new round of talks on Iran's nuclear program, according to a U.S.
official familiar with the matter.
Iran did not immediately confirm any deal. Vice President JD Vance on
Thursday evening confirmed there was a tentative agreement, but said it was
unclear if President Donald Trump would approve it.
"It's hard to say exactly when or if the president's going to sign," Vance
told reporters.
He added: "We're going back and forth on a couple of language points."
The emerging memorandum of understanding came as the fragile ceasefire in
the war between the U.S. and Iran appeared to be wavering. The latest flare-up
in fighting happened less than a day earlier, when Kuwait intercepted missiles
fired from Iran, according to U.S. Central Command.
Proposal addresses Strait of Hormuz
The memorandum makes clear that Iran will not be able to impose tolls on the
Strait of Hormuz and that Iran will have to remove all mines from the vital
waterway within 30 days, according to the official, who was not authorized to
comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
During the war, Iran has effectively closed the strait, which had been the
conduit for about a fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas. Its
closure has sent oil prices skyrocketing around the world. U.S. Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent predicted Thursday at a news briefing that the cost of
oil could "come down very quickly" once a deal is finalized.
Iran has said it's letting some commercial vessels pass -- about two dozen
daily in recent days, compared with more than 100 a day before the war -- but
the Islamic Republic also has charged tolls for at least some ships. It set up
a formal gatekeeper agency earlier this month, spurring a new round of U.S.
sanctions this week.
Under the tentative agreement, the U.S. would gradually lift its naval
blockade on Iranian ports and would also agree to relax sanctions, allowing
Iran to sell more of its oil.
Yet even as word of the potential deal emerged, the U.S. Treasury Department
imposed additional sanctions on the Iranian military's oil sales arm. The new
penalties, first reported by The Associated Press, extend the Trump
administration's economic pressure campaign on the Islamic Republic.
Details of the tentative pact were first reported by the news outlet Axios.
Nuclear issue remains unresolved
Among the first issues to be negotiated during the 60-day ceasefire is what
will happen to Iran's highly enriched uranium, the first official said. The
Islamic Republic has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched
up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%,
according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Vance suggested on Thursday evening that negotiators were trying to strike
general terms on the highly enriched uranium settled in the tentative
agreement, with the specifics to be hammered out in the ensuing talks.
Vance said the continued back and forth involved "a couple of issues on the
nuclear stuff, the highly enriched stockpile, and also the question of
enrichment."
Iran has not publicly committed to giving up the stockpile. It is believed
to buried under a trio of nuclear sites that were badly damaged by U.S.
airstrikes last year.
Nuclear analysts have said that Iran might consider China or Russia, which
have close relations with Tehran, to be a potential acceptable third party to
take possession of the enriched uranium. But Trump said Wednesday that he
"wouldn't be comfortable" with such a plan.
Though Trump and his team said from the start of the conflict that one of
their prime objectives was to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,
Vance framed the war's accomplishments as something far less definitive.
"We're in a position where we could substantially set back their nuclear
program, not just during the term of this president but over the long term,"
Vance said. "That's a very very good thing for the American people."
Iran, which has long maintained its program is peaceful, has insisted that
any deal must include an end to Israel's military operations in Lebanon against
the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. Tensions deepened Thursday in
Lebanon as Israel conducted an airstrike on a southern suburb of the capital,
Beirut, and other strikes in the southern coastal city of Tyre. At least 14
people were killed across the country's south.
Kuwait reports an attack
Kuwait announced that its air-defense systems intercepted incoming missiles
and drones on Thursday, without detailing what had been targeted. Iran said it
had retaliated for strikes earlier in the week by firing on a U.S. base in a
Gulf state it did not name.
The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry condemned Iran for what it called "blatant
aggression," and U.S. Central Command called the attack on one of America's top
allies in the Persian Gulf an "egregious ceasefire violation." Kuwait
repeatedly came under fire from Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq
before the April ceasefire began.
The exchange took place after U.S. officials said late Wednesday that
American forces launched more strikes on Iran, shooting down four one-way
attack drones that posed a threat around the strait and hitting an Iranian
ground-control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged the attack around
Bandar Abbas International Airport and said via the state-run IRNA news agency
that it launched a retaliatory attack on the air base that launched the
assaults. The Revolutionary Guard did not specify whether the response targeted
Kuwait, which houses U.S. Army Central's forward headquarters, air bases and a
naval base.
On Monday, the U.S. said it conducted what the Pentagon called
"self-defense" strikes on missile launch sites and minelaying boats in southern
Iran.
Although they have traded strikes and accusations of ceasefire violations,
Washington and Tehran have not returned to full-scale hostilities and keep
negotiating.
Vance said, "Ceasefires are always a little messy" but it's "very much
holding."
Later Thursday, Iran's defenses destroyed "a hostile aircraft" around the
southern city of Jam, the area's governor, Masood Tangestani, told state
broadcaster IRIB. No other information was immediately available.
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