Iran has agreed not to build a nuclear weapon and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, in return the US will release some $25 billion in frozen assets as part of a President Trump-brokered peace deal, according to details released by Tehran on Sunday.
Iranian officials were cautiously optimistic that a deal to finally halt the conflict which has raged for three and a half months, throwing world markets into chaos, was on the horizon.
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said a deal would be signed on Sundayand would immediately result in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial chokepoint through which a fifth of the world’s oil supplies flow.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that the deal could happen in the next few days.
The deal, which would see $25 billion in Iranian assets unfrozen by the US, does not solve all issues between Tehran and Washington, but offers a 60-day framework for technical discussions on the issues, according to officials from Pakistan.
The US would also end its blockade of Iranian-linked ships coming out of the strait.
Shipping traffic through the narrow sea passage — through which 20% of the world’s oil flowed before the war — has has slowed to a trickle.
The apparent break in the log jam comes as Israel’s military announced Sunday it had launched strikes on neighboring Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in the capital, Beirut.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were in response to Hezbollah attacks on the north of the country.
Tehran, which is Hezbollah’s main backer, last responded to Israeli strikes on Beirut with its own strikes on Israel last weekend.
Iran has also insisted previously that any US-Iran ceasefire must include an end to Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
The post Iran agrees not to build a nuke, will reopen Strait of Hormuz — and US to release $25B in assets in Trump peace deal: Tehran appeared first on New York Post.
