CAIRO \u2014 The United States is close to reaching a deal with Iran that would end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, regional officials told The Associated Press on Sunday. They said details and timelines would be worked out later.<\/p>\n
Iran has not publicly committed to giving up its uranium \u2014 a key demand of U.S. President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0\u2014 and the sides previously seemed close to a deal in recent weeks. Trump on Saturday said a deal had been \u201clargely negotiated,\u201d after calls with Israel and other regional allies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side,\u201d Trump said on social media Sunday. He said the U.S. relationship with Iran is becoming \u201cmuch more professional and productive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Secretary of State Marco Rubio,\u00a0on a visit to India, said that \u201csignificant progress, although not final progress, has been made\u201d in negotiations, and the world would no longer need to fear Iran getting a nuclear weapon, without elaborating.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian told state TV they were ready \u201cto assure the world that we are not after a nuclear weapon,\u201d while Iran\u2019s embassy in India responded to Rubio on social media, saying Tehran has an \u201cinalienable\u201d right to nuclear technology. Iran has always insisted its program is peaceful while enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels.<\/p>\n
The strait\u2019s reopening would begin to ease a\u00a0worldwide energy crisis\u00a0sparked by the surprise U.S. and Israeli bombardment of Iran on Feb. 28, which led Tehran to effectively close the crucial waterway. Prices have spiked for oil, gas and several downstream products, jolting the world economy. Experts say it would take several weeks or even months for shipping and prices to recover to prewar levels.<\/p>\n
The emerging deal would include Iran giving up uranium<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Trump said a deal had been \u201clargely negotiated,\u201d after calls with Israel and other regional allies. \u201cFinal aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,\u201d he said on social media.<\/p>\n
Under the potential deal, Tehran would agree to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, according to the two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.<\/p>\n
One official, with direct knowledge of the negotiations, said how Iran would give up its highly enriched uranium would be subject to further talks during a 60-day period. Some would likely be diluted, while the rest would be transferred to a third country, potentially Russia, the official said. Russia has offered to take it.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Iran said the peaceful use of nuclear science and technology is a legitimate right that it \u201cwill never relinquish,\u201d according to its embassy in India.<\/p>\n
Trump has sought greater concessions from Iran than those required under a 2015 Obama-era agreement that the U.S. later withdrew from under Trump.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told the state-run news agency that there are \u201cnarrowing differences\u201d between the Iranian and U.S. positions, but that Iran is cautious after being attacked twice in the past year during nuclear negotiations.<\/p>\n
Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, a key mediator, left Tehran late Saturday after more talks with Iranian officials.<\/p>\n
The strait would reopen and Iran would be able to sell oil<\/p>\n
Under the emerging agreement, the Strait of Hormuz would gradually reopen in parallel with the U.S. ending its blockade of Iran\u2019s ports, the officials said.<\/p>\n
The U.S. would allow Iran to sell its oil through sanctions waivers, said the second official, who has been briefed on the negotiations. Sanctions relief and the release of Iran\u2019s frozen funds would be negotiated during the 60-day time frame, the official said.<\/p>\n
Both officials said the draft deal includes an end of the war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, as well as a commitment to not interfere in the domestic affairs of countries in the region.<\/p>\n
Twelve weeks have passed since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader and other top officials. A ceasefire with Iran has held since April 7, though the sides have exchanged fire on occasion.<\/p>\n
Several countries, including the European Union and the United Kingdom, welcomed progress on a possible deal with Iran.<\/p>\n
Israel concerned over Hezbollah<\/p>\n
Prime Minister\u00a0Benjamin Netanyahu, in a social media post Sunday, said \u201cPresident Trump and I agreed that any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear danger,\u201d and that Trump had reaffirmed Israel\u2019s right to defend itself \u201con every front, including Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Science Minister Gila Gamliel, a member of Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party and part of his national security cabinet, told Israel\u2019s Army Radio that Israel is taking a \u201cwait-and-see\u201d approach.<\/p>\n
Israeli officials are concerned that Hezbollah remains a serious threat to Israel and that Lebanon is ill-equipped to disarm it.<\/p>\n
A fragile,\u00a0U.S.-brokered ceasefire\u00a0took effect in Lebanon on April 17, but fighting has continued, mainly in the south. Hezbollah has launched daily drone and rocket attacks on Israeli forces and northern Israel, and Israel has struck targets across Lebanon while its troops remain in large swaths of the south.<\/p>\n
More than 3,000 people\u00a0have been killed in the latest round of fighting, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Additionally, 22 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to Netanyahu\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CAIRO \u2014 The United States is close to reaching a deal with Iran that would end the war,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,2558,3,111,21,19,22,20,25,24,965],"class_list":["post-662510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-latest-headlines","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}