President Trump said on Saturday that the United States was close to reaching an agreement with Iran to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He offered few details in a post on social media but said the preliminary agreement had been “largely negotiated.”
Mr. Trump made his announcement hours after Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, said Washington and Tehran were in the “final stage” of drafting a memorandum of understanding and “may be able to reach a mutually acceptable solution.”
As of Sunday morning, it was unclear what Mr. Trump and Iran had agreed, with U.S. and Iranian officials describing basic elements of the deal in different terms.
Mr. Trump’s announcement followed a wave of late diplomatic efforts to avert a return to full-scale war. In recent days, the president repeatedly threatened to launch new strikes on Iran, and Tehran escalated its rhetoric.
Here’s what to know.
What have Trump and U.S. officials said?
In his social media post, Mr. Trump said he had spoken by phone with the leaders of several Arab leaders, and the leaders of Pakistan and Turkey about a memorandum of understanding “pertaining to PEACE.” He said the agreement was “subject to finalization” by the United States, Iran and other countries, but did not provide any details.
Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a key element of the proposed agreement was an apparent commitment by Tehran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The officials said questions about how that would occur would be deferred to a later round of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
Another crucial component of any deal would involve the release of billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen abroad. Iran will only get access to the bulk of those assets that the United States and allies would put into a reconstruction fund once they agreed to a final nuclear deal, the officials said. That would give Iran an incentive to stay at the table and make an agreement, they added.
What has Iran said?
Iran had not formally responded to Mr. Trump’s comments. But three senior Iranian officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said that Tehran had agreed to a memorandum of understanding that would stop the fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon, where Israel is fighting with Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group; reopen the Strait of Hormuz without any tolls; lift the U.S. naval blockade on Iran; and release $25 billion in Iranian frozen assets.
It was unclear whether the proposal described by the Iranian officials was the same one Mr. Trump referred to in his social media post. The officials told The New York Times that the proposal said nothing about the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, only that a plan for dealing with the country’s highly enriched uranium would be negotiated within 30 to 60 days.
What has been the reaction?
Even with a few details announced, some Republicans and Iran hawks quickly took to social media to denounce the potential agreement.
“The rumored 60-day cease-fire — with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good faith — would be a disaster,” Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote on social media before Mr. Trump announced a possible deal.
An Israeli official said in a statement that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country joined the initial U.S. attack that started the war in late February, had discussed the agreement with Mr. Trump on a call on Saturday. The official characterized the deal as an understanding about reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which would unlock talks to end the war. Mr. Netanyahu told the president it would not compromise Israel’s ability to act against threats, including in Lebanon.
Clashes between Hezbollah and Israel have strained the broader cease-fire with Iran after Mr. Trump announced it in April.
What still needs to be addressed?
The potential agreement appears to leave some of the thorniest questions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program unresolved.
Iran possesses a stockpile of about 970 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated during Obama’s administration, Iran turned most of its stockpile over to Russia, an arrangement that could serve as a model again. Another possibility would involved diluting the uranium to lower enrichment levels that could not be made into a nuclear weapon. The United States has sought a 20-year moratorium on enrichment, while Iran had proposed a far shorter timeline.
Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
The post What to Know About the Potential U.S.-Iran Peace Deal appeared first on New York Times.
