Iran and the United States are close to reaching an agreement to end the Iran war, as Qatari mediators traveled to Tehran on Sunday to finalize the agreement, according to regional officials.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, expressed cautious optimism that the United States and Iran are finally moving closer to an agreement that could halt hostilities that have killed thousands of people and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the closure of which has thrown global markets into chaos.
US President Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Saturday that the agreement would be signed on Sunday, while Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that could happen in the coming days. Trump said that the Strait of Hormuz will open immediately after the signing.
It is expected that the deal will be signed electronically, without an in-person ceremony, although it is unclear when or how it will be signed.
Nuclear and other issues still need to be finalized
The agreement does not resolve thorny issues between the United States and Iran, including Iran’s nuclear program or its frozen assets, but it provides a 60-day framework for technical discussions on those issues, according to Pakistani and regional officials familiar with the ongoing negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Officials described Pakistan’s months-long efforts to lead the negotiations, the struggle to prevent both sides from leaving the room, and the complete collapse of negotiations on multiple occasions.
Under the current agreement being discussed, it appears that the United States and Israel have not achieved their original goals of destroying Iran’s missile and nuclear programs and ending its support for its proxies.
It is not clear how the agreement will address these issues, or whether they will be part of the final agreement.
Meanwhile, Trump is expected to discuss demining the Strait of Hormuz during the G7 summit starting Monday.
The waterway is crucial for large shipments of oil, natural gas and related products such as fertilisers, and its closure has effectively shaken the global economy.
The apparent breakthrough came after Iran exchanged fire with the United States and Israel earlier in the week, threatening to breach the ceasefire and push the Middle East back into full-scale war.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 7.
Iran’s nuclear program and highly enriched uranium have long been at the heart of tensions with the United States and Israel and a source of international concern.
Trump stressed on social media that “when everything calms down,” the United States will intervene and “reduce and destroy” enriched uranium in Iran or in the United States.
Iran has 972 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful and has not publicly committed to giving up enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under three nuclear sites that were severely damaged by US strikes last year.
Iran wants to include Lebanon in the agreement
Meanwhile, fighting in Lebanon has continued between Israel, which has pushed its invasion deeper than at any time in more than a quarter-century, and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group despite a ceasefire.
Iran wanted the ceasefire agreement to include the fighting in Lebanon. Tehran also sought to release billions of dollars in frozen funds.
The agreement in its current form represents a deep disappointment for the Israeli government, which was marginalized in the negotiations led by Pakistan and other countries. Even critics in Trump’s Republican Party, grappling with an unpopular war ahead of the midterm elections, criticized the deal.
Some said it did not improve the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew the United States from during his first term and which he still describes as “bad.”