Trump may release 60-day Iran deal before Friday — The Guardian
says Donald Trump may release a preliminary deal with Iran before Friday, after JD Vance described the memorandum of understanding as "about a page and a half" and "very general." The timing matters because senior US officials said the Strait of Hormuz would re-open on Friday, while the deal is due to be formally inked in Geneva the same day.
Trump, Vance and Ghalibaf
Trump said on Monday during talks with French President Emmanuel Macron: "I am very happy to say it's signed, the deal is all signed." US officials also said the preliminary agreement had been signed electronically by Trump, Vance and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian parliamentary speaker. That puts the document in place before technical talks on Iran's nuclear programme are expected to begin this week.
Vance said the memorandum sets out a framework in which Iran gets the benefits of the bargain by meeting its obligations under the bargain. He said nuclear inspectors would be allowed back into Iran "absolutely," and described one core part of the agreement as a plan for the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United States to help Iran destroy the highly enriched stockpile.
Geneva and Switzerland talks
Seyed Abbas Araghchi said a new round of negotiations on reaching a final peace deal with the United States would begin in Switzerland on Friday. The preliminary memorandum is not the final peace deal; Vance said "On a number of issues, we are going to have to figure this stuff out during the technical negotiation phase, but what the MOU does is set up a framework whereby the Iranians get the benefits of the bargain by meeting their obligations under the bargain."
Vance also said Iran will commit itself to regional peace and stability in paragraph one of the document, including stopping the funding of terrorist organisations and making a verifiable commitment not to build a nuclear weapon. The deal is set to extend a ceasefire for another 60 days, giving the sides time to negotiate the details of a final agreement while the Strait of Hormuz reopens and the nuclear talks begin.
