U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative agreement Thursday to extend the ceasefire in the 3-month-old war by 60 days and launch talks on Iran’s nuclear program, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
Iran did not immediately confirm any deal, and the official noted that President Donald Trump has yet to sign off on it.
The emerging memorandum of understanding came as the fragile ceasefire in the war between the U.S. and Iran appeared to be wavering. The latest flare-up in fighting happened less than a day earlier, when Kuwait intercepted missiles fired from Iran, according to U.S. Central Command.
The memorandum makes clear that Iran will not be able to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran will have to remove all mines from the vital waterway within 30 days, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The U.S., meanwhile, would gradually lift its naval blockade on the strait, the conduit for about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas before the war. Its closure has sent oil prices skyrocketing, driving up fuel prices around the world.
The U.S. would also agree to relax sanctions, allowing Iran to sell more of its oil.
Nuclear issue remains unresolved
Among the first issues to be negotiated during the 60-day ceasefire is what will happen to Iran’s highly enriched uranium, the official said. Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran has not publicly committed to giving up the stockpile, which is believed to be buried under a trio of nuclear sites that were badly damaged by U.S. airstrikes last year.
Nuclear analysts have said that Iran might consider China or Russia, which have close relations with Tehran, to be a potential acceptable third party to take possession of the enriched uranium as part of a potential deal. But Trump said Wednesday that he “wouldn’t be comfortable” with such a plan.
A second U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private diplomacy, said the broad outlines of an agreement have been reached but stressed that until Trump signs off on it, there is no deal. The official said there still are questions about whether Trump will accept the proposal.
Details of the tentative pact were first reported by the news outlet Axios.
Kuwait reports an attack
Kuwait had earlier announced an attack on its territory, and Iran said it had retaliated for strikes earlier in the week by firing on a U.S. base in a Gulf state it did not name. The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry condemned Iran for what it called “blatant aggression,” and U.S. Central Command called the attack on one of America’s top allies in the Persian Gulf an “egregious ceasefire violation.”
The exchange unfolded after U.S. officials said late Wednesday in Washington that American forces launched more strikes on Iran, shooting down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the strait and hitting an Iranian ground-control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.
Washington and Tehran have repeatedly accused each other of violating the seven-week ceasefire and have traded strikes throughout the week. But they haven’t returned to full-scale hostilities and have kept negotiating.
On Monday, the U.S. said it conducted what the Pentagon called “self-defense” strikes on missile launch sites and minelaying boats in southern Iran.
After the latest American strikes, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged the attack around Bandar Abbas International Airport. The Iranian force said via the state-run IRNA news agency that it launched a retaliatory attack on the air base that launched the assaults, without specifying whether the retaliation targeted Kuwait, which is home to U.S. Army Central’s forward headquarters, air bases and a naval base.
Iran wants a Lebanon angle to any deal
Kuwait’s military announced that its air-defense systems intercepted incoming missiles and drones on Thursday, without detailing what had been targeted. Kuwait repeatedly came under fire from Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq before the April ceasefire began.
The announcement was made with the Middle East on edge.
Besides sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets, Iran has insisted that any deal must include an end to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. Tensions deepened Thursday in Lebanon as Israel conducted an airstrike on a southern suburb of the capital, Beirut, and other strikes in the southern coastal city of Tyre. At least 14 people were killed across the country’s south.
—By Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee, Jon Gambrell, and Sam Metz, Associated Press
Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin and Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.