Middle East conflict: Trump speaks at G7 summit, says Iran deal is everything US hoped for
US and Iran can still walk away from deal, official says
Vera Alves
The US and Iran can still walk away from the peace deal, a US official has claimed.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official read out the 14-point memorandum that is due to be formally signed in Switzerland on Friday.
They said upcoming meetings there will be “critical” for ensuring that the memorandum of understanding can evolve into a comprehensive agreement.
Upcoming talks are likely to focus on the precise sequencing of the steps previewed in the preliminary accord, the official added.
They said: “I think the meeting in Switzerland will be quite critical in order to really see how we get to the next phase.
“It has to be a situation where both parties... agree on the full magnitude of what both parties are going to do, and then come up with a sequencing agreement on who’s going to do what when, and that’s really where the crux of the negotiations will go.”
Earlier Donald Trump said Iran is “so ready to make a deal”, adding that if Tehran refuses to sign “we’ll have to start the process again”.
– Daily Telegraph UK
Vera Alves
Netanyahu says he hasn’t seen deal whilst US says he didn’t ask
Vera Alves
Benjamin Netanyahu declared he has not been given a copy of the memorandum of understanding, despite Trump’s claims the deal was sent to Israel.
However a senior US official has now said the Israeli prime minister has not requested a copy of the deal.
“He has not asked us for a copy of it… but we’ve been briefing him and his team very frequently on what’s happening,” the official said.
– Daily Telegraph UK
Trump and Iranian President could sign deal
Vera Alves
Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian, his Iranian counterpart, could personally sign the peace deal, Iran’s Foreign Ministry has said.
Esmail Baghaei, Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the idea is “on the table and is still being considered,” according to Tasnim, Iran’s semi-official news agency.
Donald Trump earlier told a G7 press conference that he “might” stick around for the meeting, planned for Friday in Switzerland.
It was previously understood that JD Vance and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator, would represent Washington and Tehran respectively at the signing.
– Daily Telegraph UK
Vera Alves
US says Iran agrees to dilute uranium under peace deal
Vera Alves
Iran has agreed to dilute its enriched uranium stocks under its interim deal with the United States, senior US administration officials said today as they released what they said was the text of the agreement.
"The fact that they're conceding to that is a major, major win for the United States of America," one of the US officials said of the nuclear issue on a call with reporters.
The deal would also reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow Iranian oil sales, while the United States and its allies would also make plans for a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran.
The US officials read out the wording on a conference call after days of uncertainty about what was actually included in the deal that President Donald Trump announced on Sunday.
The outline deal will be followed by 60 days of negotiations on a final accord - after which Trump said Washington could simply go back to "bombing" if Iran doesn't agree.
Iran's nuclear program is mentioned in the deal, according to the US officials, with extra clauses compared to drafts of the agreement that were leaked in US and foreign media.
Under the text read out by US officials, the two countries agreed to discuss a mechanism for dealing with Iran's stocks of enriched uranium, which have been at the centre of US allegations that Tehran wants to develop nuclear arms.
It says that the "minimum methodology" would be "down blending on site under the supervision of the IAEA" - the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Down blending involves mixing enriched uranium that can be refined to make atomic bombs with depleted uranium, to reduce its radioactivity.
"They're saying we will destroy the enriched stockpile, and this is how we're going to do it at a minimum," the senior US official said, in what he said was his own commentary on the deal.
$300 bn reconstruction fund
The US officials acknowledged that the possible $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran following the war launched by Israel and the United States on February 29 was the "second most controversial" part after the nuclear issue.
The text says that Washington "undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
The mechanism for that would also be part of the 60-day talks.
But the official insisted Washington would not be on the hook, with Trump facing charges of hypocrisy after harshly criticizing cash paid out to Iran under President Barack Obama's 2015 nuclear deal.
"Note that it doesn't require us to do anything...to ever pay a cent of money to the Iranians, to ever contribute money to this reconstruction fund," the first senior official said.
"What it says is that if we get to a final deal and if the Iranians behave, we will permit the sanctions relief that would allow, for example, the Emiratis to build a power plant in Iran."
– AFP
US officials share memorandum of understanding
Vera Alves
After days of secrecy, senior US officials dictated the memorandum of understanding with Iran to journalists.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to read the draft, which Iran has not released, ahead of a formal signing ceremony set for Friday.
The officials said the draft agreement includes a new “minimum” standard for downblending of highly enriched Iranian uranium as well as provisions to ensure ‘“territorial integrity” of Lebanon after Israel’s latest attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanese territory.
In return, the US will move to waive, but not eliminate, some wide-ranging sanctions against Iran once the deal is signed.
The American draft of the agreement also secures toll-free passage of the Strait of Hormuz for only 60 days, and it does not preclude fees in future, the officials said.
– Daily Telegraph UK
Vera Alves
Trump says US 'did send a copy' of Iran accord to Israel
Vera Alves
US President Donald Trump said Washington "did send a copy" of its accord with Iran to end the Middle East war, following reports of tensions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Insisting he maintains a good relationship with Netanyahu, Trump reaffirmed his criticism at the G7 summit of Israel's campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying "they (Israel) could do a much better job".
– AFP
US, allies to make plan for $300 billion Iran reconstruction fund
Vera Alves
Iran could get access to a $300 billion reconstruction fund under a deal with the United States, US officials said as they released the text, while insisting that Washington was under no commitment to contribute.
Tehran would also be allowed to resume oil sales as soon as the agreement is signed this week, while all sanctions would be lifted if a final deal is reached after a 60-day negotiation period, the senior administration officials said.
– AFP
Recovery of ship traffic in Hormuz limited, but signs emerge
Vera Alves
Maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains at levels before the Iran-US agreement, says the Kpler maritime tracking platform, but there are signs of recovery ahead of Friday’s official reopening.
Hezbollah hails Iran’s ‘great victory’
Vera Alves
The Hezbollah chief has hailed Iran’s “great victory” after an understanding was reached between Tehran and Washington.
Naim Qassem also urged Lebanon to seize the moment to expel Israeli forces from its territory.
Speaking in a televised address, he said: “We congratulate the Iranian people, the resistance and the countries and peoples of the region and the world who yearn for independence and freedom on this great victory.”
Qassem urged Lebanon to “benefit from this pivotal point”.
– Daily Telegraph UK
Trump: ‘We’ll go back to bombing’ if deal not agreed in 60 days
Vera Alves
Donald Trump has said “we’ll go back to bombing” if the memorandum of understanding is not agreed within 60 days.
The US president added that he doesn’t “want to do that” but he “might have to” to stop Tehran developing a nuclear weapon.
Trump told reporters in France: “It’s a memorandum of understanding. If it doesn’t get done in 60 days, it’s all right. We go back to bombing.
“I don’t want to do that, because it’s so good, but we might have to, because we’re never going to let them have a nuclear weapon, but they’ve agreed not to, and you’ll see that very clearly in the agreement.
– Daily Telegraph UK
Peace deal sent to Israel
Vera Alves
Donald Trump has said the memorandum of understanding was sent to Israel.
Israel has been vocal in its dislike of the deal, with Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to remain in southern Lebanon.
Speaking to reporters at the G7 summit, the US president said the deal would be released “shortly”, “tomorrow, maybe the next day”.
He said: “It’s appropriate that we release the agreement, and we did send a copy to Israel. By the way, they’ve been a good partner again. I think they could do better with respect to Hezbollah.
– Daily Telegraph UK
Vera Alves
Trump: Iran deal achieves everything we wanted
Vera Alves
Donald Trump has said his deal with Iran achieves all of the objectives the US hoped to accomplish at the beginning of the war.
Speaking at the end of a G7 summit in France, the US president said he brokered the agreement because he wanted to avoid an “economic catastrophe”.
However, some of the US president’s senior allies have expressed doubts about the deal and critics have claimed it amounts to a capitulation to Tehran’s demands to end the war and reopen the strait.
Trump told reporters: “On Sunday, we reached an agreement with Iran that achieves everything we set out to accomplish, everything and much more, ending the current conflict, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and preventing Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon, that’s what it was all about.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, they can’t develop it, buy it, they can never have a nuclear weapon.”
World leaders who have been briefed on the terms of the agreement with Tehran had praised it, Trump continued.
Justifying the settlement, the US president said: “The one thing I didn’t want to see is I didn’t want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened.
“But all I know is every time we talked about the possibility of peace, the stock market shot up like a rocket ship. It never went down. They didn’t like it.”
He added that the stock market is “more brilliant than anybody there is” apart from himself.
The agreement is set to be signed on Friday in Switzerland, although Trump suggested it could be signed sooner.
– Daily Telegraph UK
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