Iran and the US are close to an agreement to end the war in Iran, as Qatari mediators went to Tehran on Sunday to finalize the deal, according to two regional officials.
These officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media, expressed great hope that the US and Iran are finally approaching an agreement that can stop the conflicts that have killed thousands of people and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the closure of which has upset world markets.
US President Trump and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that the agreement would be signed on Sunday, while Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said it could happen in the coming days. Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would open immediately after signing.
The agreement is expected to be signed electronically, without an in-person ceremony, although it is not clear when or how the signing will take place.
The nuclear and other issues are yet to be finalized
The accord does not address the most pressing issues between the US and Iran, including Iran’s nuclear program or its frozen assets, but it provides a 60-day framework for technical talks on those issues, according to Pakistani and regional officials familiar with the ongoing talks who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The officials described Pakistan’s months-long effort leading up to the talks, fighting to keep both sides out of the room and the complete collapse of negotiations on several occasions.
Under the current deal being negotiated, the US and Israel appear to have failed in their original goals of destroying Iran’s missile and nuclear programs and ending its support for proxies.
It is not clear how the agreement will address these issues, or whether they will be part of the final agreement.
Meanwhile, Trump was expected to discuss the dissolution of the Strait of Hormuz during the Group of Seven meeting that begins on Monday.
The waterway is vital for vital shipments of oil, natural gas and related products such as fertilizer, and its successful closure shook the world economy.
The apparent breakthrough came after Iran exchanged fire with the US and Israel earlier in the week, threatening to end the ceasefire and return the Middle East to full-scale war.
A strict ceasefire has been in place since April 7.
Iran’s nuclear program and highly enriched uranium have long been a source of tension with the US and Israel and a source of international concern.
Trump on social media asserted that “when everything calms down,” the US will step in and “destroy” the enriched uranium in Iran or the US.
Iran has 972 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a short, technical step from 90% weapons-grade levels, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran has long kept its nuclear program quiet and has not publicly committed to giving up enriched uranium, believed to be buried beneath three nuclear sites badly damaged by US strikes last year.
Iran wants Lebanon to be included in the deal
Meanwhile, fighting continued in Lebanon between Israel, which has pushed its offensive deeper than at any time in nearly a century, and the Iran-based terrorist group Hezbollah despite a ceasefire.
Iran wanted a ceasefire to include the war in Lebanon. Tehran also demanded the release of billions of dollars in frozen funds.
The current deal is a major disappointment to the Israeli government, which has been sidelined in talks led by Pakistan and others. Even critics of Trump’s Republican Party, which is fighting an unpopular battle ahead of the midterm elections, criticized the deal.
Others say it did not advance the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Trump withdrew the US from during his first term and still describes as “bad.”
