Deal said to call for end of Israel-Hezbollah fighting

US-Iran deal said to open strait for 60 days, Iran to discuss giving up enriched uranium

Iranians said to only give verbal agreement about how far ready to go in curbing nuclear program; US said ready to lift some sanctions, enabling Iran to trade oil; Strait of Hormuz would be open to all

The US and Iran are close to signing a deal involving a 60-day ceasefire extension, during which the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened, Iran would be able to freely sell oil, and negotiations would be held on curbing Iran’s nuclear program — including it giving up its stockpile of enriched uranium, the Axios news site reported on Sunday, citing a US official.

According to the Axios report, during the 60 days, the Strait of Hormuz would be open with no tolls, and Iran would agree to clear the mines it deployed in the strait to allow ships to pass freely.

In exchange, as part of the proposed deal, the US would lift its blockade on Iranian ports and issue some sanctions waivers to allow Iran to sell oil freely, the report added.

The draft agreement also includes commitments from Iran to never pursue nuclear weapons and to negotiate over a suspension of its uranium enrichment program and the removal of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the Axios report said.

Iran gave the US, via the mediators, verbal commitments about the scope of the concessions it’s willing to make on suspending enrichment and giving up its nuclear material, two sources told Axios.

The detail on Iran agreeing to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium was also cited by two US officials who spoke anonymously to the New York Times.

According to the officials, Iran has committed in a general statement to giving up the uranium, rather than reaching an agreement with the US on exactly how it will relinquish it. Instead, the exact details will be worked out during the negotiations that will begin once a deal is reached.

The report came days after Iranian sources claimed that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, had issued a directive that the near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad.

Later Sunday, a senior Iranian source told Reuters that Tehran has not agreed to hand over its highly enriched uranium stockpile. The source said Iran’s nuclear issue was not part of the preliminary agreement with the United States.

“The nuclear issue will be addressed in negotiations for a final agreement and is therefore not part of the current deal. There has been no agreement over Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile to be shipped out of the country,” said the source.

Iran, which is avowed to destroy Israel, has a stockpile of more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium in its possession, which Israeli officials have said is sufficient for 11 nuclear bombs if enriched further.

Earlier this month, a senior Israeli military official said if the uranium wasn’t removed, the war launched in February could be considered “one big failure.”

Israel and the US launched their campaign against Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its nuclear and ballistic missile capacities. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes across the region, and its proxies in Iraq and Lebanon have also carried out attacks, with Israel launching massive airstrikes in Lebanon in response to the Hezbollah terror group’s rocket barrages.

Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies are shipped, while charging tolls for vessels that wanted passage and attacking others that tried to pass. The US, in response, blockaded Iranian ships and ports to prevent Tehran from shipping any oil itself. The halt in movement through the strait has rattled global economies.

Sanctions relief

As part of the ceasefire plan, the US would also agree to negotiate over lifting sanctions and unfreezing Iranian funds during the 60 days, the Axios report said. US forces that moved to the area in recent months to participate in the assault on Iran will withdraw only if a final agreement is reached.

The details of the agreement would be enshrined in a memorandum of understanding, according to the report.

The US official conceded that allowing Iran to trade in oil would provide relief to the Iranian economy, but noted it would also free up oil trade for the rest of the world by unblocking the Strait of Hormuz, describing Trump’s approach as “relief for performance.”

Sanctions on Iran’s oil trade have been a key plank in the US pressure campaign on Tehran to force it into a nuclear agreement, and the US official said Washington believes Iran’s keen interest in removing the sanctions will drive it towards an agreement. The official noted that while Iran wants immediate sanctions relief, the US told it that any rollbacks would only come after there are concrete concessions from Tehran.

The Memorandum of Understanding also specifies that it includes an end to the fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

The potential MOU includes an end of the war on all fronts, with Washington waiving sanctions on Iran’s oil during negotiations, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said.

Iran has not yet accepted any actions on its nuclear program, Tasnim added, saying the potential agreement allocates 30 days for procedures related to the Strait of Hormuz and a 60-day period for nuclear talks.

The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.

Trump and mediators have indicated the deal could be announced on Sunday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Trump on Saturday, raising concerns about the emerging deal, including the halt of fighting with Hezbollah, according to an Israeli source cited by Axios. The US official, however, insisted it would not be a “one-sided ceasefire,” noting Israel would have the right to act if Hezbollah rearmed or launched attacks.

Netanyahu was to hold a limited security cabinet meeting on Sunday evening to discuss the emerging Iran deal, an aide to one of the attending ministers confirmed to The Times of Israel.

Axios also cited three unnamed sources as saying that Trump held a conference call with several other regional leaders about the emerging plan, and they all supported it. That included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan, the last of which has led mediate efforts. United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed was also on the call, according to the US official.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Trump “on his extraordinary efforts to pursue peace” amid the push to finalize an agreement.

In a statement on X, Sharif said Trump’s “very useful and productive” phone call with regional leaders on Saturday “provided a useful opportunity to exchange views on the current regional situation and how to move the ongoing peace efforts forward to bring lasting peace in the region.”

“Pakistan will continue its peace efforts with utmost sincerity and we hope to host the next round of talks very soon,” he added.