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The United States and Iran signalled on Friday that an agreement to end their war was close, with a senior U.S. administration official saying both sides had agreed on a text and that Washington expects to sign an initial deal in the coming days.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said changes were yet possible, but the tentative agreement showed his country had emerged stronger from the conflict. “Iran is the winner of the war with the U.S.,” he said on state television.
The proposed memorandum of understanding calls for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, sources on all sides of the talks said. Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program — U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated rationale for starting the war — would take place afterward.
The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters the deal met Trump’s core objectives and put negotiations “in a very, very good place.”
Accounts of the draft proposal from Western, Pakistani and Iranian sources pointed to terms that could favour Iran, drawing criticism from Trump, who dismissed the reports as inaccurate.
While there were minor differences in the details, the proposals broadly offered Tehran much of what it has sought, with Trump appearing to secure little beyond the reopening of the strait, which Iran closed after the U.S. and Israel strikes in February.
Araqchi said Iran, along with Oman, would retain control of traffic through the strait, which before the war handled one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply.
“Our sword will always hang over the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
Iranian news agencies reported on Saturday that explosions were heard along the strait in Iran’s Sirik port and Qeshm island, which residents and local officials attributed to shots fired by Iranian forces to warn vessels attempting to cross the waterway without permission from the Revolutionary Guards’ navy.
What’s in the deal?
Draft terms of the deal described to Reuters by multiple sources indicate the U.S. would begin releasing billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, and waive sanctions on its oil exports, in return for Iran opening the strait.
Iran’s nuclear program would be addressed during a 60-day period of talks. The U.S. official said the agreement would ultimately lead to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program, with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be destroyed and removed. The terms also include an inspection regime to ensure compliance over the long term.
WATCH | CBC News reports from inside Iran:
An inside look at pro-government rallies in Iran
In a Canadian exclusive, the CBC has been given permission to report from Iran. The government there imposes restrictions on international journalists but does not check our material. CBC News senior international correspondent Margaret Evans takes viewers to a pro-government rally in Tehran.
But Araqchi told state television that Iran, which sources said has not accepted the dismantling of its nuclear program, wanted to retain the uranium in diluted form. “For Tehran, the only preferred solution for its highly enriched uranium stockpile is down-blending the material,” he said.
The proposals include discussion of possible war reparations for Tehran and dropping long-standing limits on Iran’s missile program, the sources said. The U.S. official disputed that account.
“None of their money released until they perform. Strait of Hormuz will be open. No Iran funding of terrorist groups,” the official said. “This is what they have agreed to. This is a performance-based deal.”
Israel not party to memorandum
A Western source said the deal could be signed as soon as Sunday by U.S. Vice-President JD Vance and Iran’s parliament Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, with Geneva seen as the likeliest venue. Araqchi said the deal would be signed remotely before it is announced.
The U.S. administration official said Europe had been discussed as a venue for signing but no decision had been made.
Israel, which launched the war alongside the United States, has not been part of the negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would not be party to the memorandum.
Netanyahu has clashed with Trump in recent weeks over U.S. demands that Israel curb military action in Lebanon to let Washington reach a deal with Tehran.
Israel’s defence minister said it would not withdraw. A senior Israeli official said Israel expects to retain its freedom to act against threats in areas under its control.
WATCH | Strikes on Iran called off:
Trump cancels strikes, claiming Iran war ‘settlement’ — Tehran says not so fast
U.S. President Donald Trump called off planned military strikes on Iran Thursday, claiming an imminent end of the war, and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, as part of a ‘great settlement,’ but Tehran said no such deal has been finalized. CBC News is reporting from inside Iran.
The progress towards an agreement has emerged at the end of a week that brought a sharp escalation in hostilities in the Gulf, including Israeli-Iranian exchanges of fire and U.S. strikes on Iranian targets, followed by retaliation against U.S. bases.
Global stocks rose and oil prices fell on the news. Brent crude prices were down more than three per cent at their lowest in nearly two months.
The conflict has become a political headache for the White House, amid rising fuel prices and slipping approval ratings for Trump.
Some Republicans worry that the war’s unpopularity could cost them control of Congress in November’s midterm elections. But many of Trump’s fellow Republicans may have difficulty endorsing an agreement viewed as too favourable to Iran.
Tehran, which has always said its nuclear program is peaceful and accepted tight curbs on it in return for the lifting of sanctions under a 2015 agreement with the administration of then-U.S. president Barack Obama.
Trump abandoned that deal during his first term in 2018 and Iran responded by ramping up its enrichment of uranium, producing roughly 900 pounds of material at close to the purity needed to make a bomb.
Vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Thursday. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)