The US and Iran deadlock is finally about to end apparently as both the parties progress towards a conclusive end. Yet there still remain matters of relevance to be deliberated on.
The US and Iran have reached an agreement on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and launch negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, but President Donald Trump still needs to give final approval, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two US officials.
“This is an agreement to get everybody to the table. We will work out the details in the negotiations,” one of the US officials said.
The officials said the terms of the deal were mostly agreed to as of Tuesday, but both sides still needed approval from senior leadership.
“The president relayed to the mediators that he wants a couple of days to think about it,” a US official said.
Later on Thursday, citing a source close to Tehran’s negotiating team, Iran’s state-affiliated Tasnim news agency denied reports that a memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington had been finalized and was only awaiting announcement by the two sides.
Iran has not yet informed the Pakistani mediator that the text has been finalized, the report said.
“If the text is truly finalized, Iran will announce the matter to both the Pakistani mediator and the public. Until then, any claims by Western sources about the issue being finalized are not credible,” the source said.
According to the US officials cited by Axios, the 60-day MoU will state that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will be “unrestricted,” with one official saying this means there will be no tolls and no harassment and that Iran will have to remove all mines from the strait within 30 days.
One official said the naval blockade will also be lifted, but that will happen in proportion to the restoration of commercial shipping.
The MoU will include an Iranian commitment not to pursue a nuclear weapon, the officials said, and it will also state that the first issues to be negotiated during the 60-day window will be how to dispose of Iran’s highly enriched uranium and how to address Iranian enrichment.
The US will also commit to discuss sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian funds as part of the negotiations.
The MoU will also include a discussion of a mechanism to help Iran start receiving goods and humanitarian aid.
