US President Donald Trump said yesterday that the text of his nation’s interim deal with Iran to end the war in the Middle East would be made public soon.
It would 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 Iran in February.
Trump 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.
Speaking at the G7 meetings in France, Trump added that he liked the idea of sending the Iran deal to Congress for review, a request by some Republican legislators.
Negotiators would address difficult issues like the future of Iran’s nuclear programme during the next phase of talks, which Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said would start in Switzerland on Friday after the formal signing of the framework deal.
Two other issues that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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,” Trump told reporters about the next phase of negotiations. “They have to get back to business, and the relationship is now normalised, so I think it’s going to go pretty quickly.”
Earlier he described the deal as ‘a wall to a nuclear weapon’ for Iran.
Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf are expected to attend Friday’s formal signing.
Oil prices slid more than two per cent to new three-month lows yesterday, a day after tumbling nearly 5pc following news of the deal, though industry officials say Middle East oil and gas output will take months to fully recover.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media that the interim agreement was an ‘important step’ toward stopping the fighting but noted a final deal for a lasting truce ‘has yet to take shape’.
Vance told CNN that the signed memorandum was a ‘very general document’. Details would be released over the next two days, US officials said.
Both sides still face pressures following a conflict that killed at least 7,000 people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and upended global energy markets. The accord exposes Trump to criticism from within his own party, while Iran’s leaders could face the risk of renewed protests if they fail to alleviate economic pressures after a destructive war.
US and Iranian officials say the deal could eventually deliver substantial economic benefits to Iran by lifting sanctions and unfreezing foreign assets.
Both sides say the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s trade in oil and liquefied natural gas, will be open from Friday.
The US said the strait will be open toll-free for 60 days and it would expect 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. One concern is the possible presence of mines in the narrow waterway.
A thorough minesweeping operation would ‘take weeks to months’, an official with Greek maritime security company Diaplous told Reuters.
The conflict between US ally Israel and the Iran-allied Hizbollah militia in Lebanon, which has uprooted 1.2 million people, remains another complication. One key factor in whether the interim accord holds will be the situation there, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his troops would remain in the south as long as needed to tackle Hizbollah. Tehran has demanded an Israeli withdrawal.
Trump has expressed frustration at Israel’s military campaign, saying yesterday he was ‘not happý’ with the way Israel had handled itself. Israel has not directly participated in the peace talks with Iran.
Trump appeared critical of Israel’s strategy in Lebanon and also suggested that neighbouring Syria, under President Ahmed Al Sharaa, could be best placed to intervene.
&uuid=(email))