US and Iran
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What is the framework deal between the US and Iran?
Now, the US and Iran have agreed a framework deal to end the war, which mediator Pakistan says will be signed on Friday in Switzerland. US President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would open on Friday and that he had ordered an end to the US blockade of Iranian ports. writing on Truth Social, ships of the world, start your engines, let the oil flow. He also claimed the Great Deal would bring peace and security to the region. However, some critical details seem to be yet to be ironed out. I'm joined now by Sarah Firth, foreign correspondent based in Washington. Sarah, good morning to you.
Good morning, David.
How does President Trump plan to open the Strait of Hormuz?
Now, President Trump says the deal allows for toll-free shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of the US naval blockade. But are you hearing anything in Washington about how this deal will actually work? Are the Iranians actually conceding that the Strait will be open to all without any fees? Or is this a tactical pause in what they're up to?
Well, look, I mean, I think the first thing to point out is that the text and detail of the deal has not been seen yet. Yesterday, in the lead up to the announcement, you know, we had a lot of moving back and forth. So, look, the emerging terms would appear to do several things. End the military operations on all fronts, it seems, including Lebanon. Of course, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as President Trump has said, get the oil flowing, lift the U.S. naval blockade, and then eventually open the way for sanctions relief for Tehran and oil sales and the release of frozen assets. So basically what Friday – there was talk of this being an electronic signature, electronically signed or remotely signed yesterday on President Trump's 80th birthday.
Now it is, we're told, happening on Friday in Switzerland. And as I understand it – that would begin a 60-day period of technical negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, the piece of the puzzle that hasn't been solved. But, you know, President Trump's claim about the Strait of Hormuz, you know, start your engines. I think there is an important lesson to remind people here that Tehran have, with this war, been handed a very powerful weapon and that is the knowledge that they can disrupt one of the most important maritime routes. They're not going into all of this with the deal and the negotiations that will follow in the 60 days if it's signed on Friday with no leverage.
What are the critical details of the US-Iran deal that remain unresolved?
So the big win from Donald Trump's point of view is that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened and the Strait of Hormuz of course wasn't closed until he launched the war.
Yes, exactly. And I think it's interesting to look at the official language. You know, it's already moving towards celebration and vindication. You know, it's there's a huge difference between ending a war, which hasn't happened yet. The deal has not yet been signed. and proving that a war was worth starting. And I think, David, you know, we've reported many times on this, but on the very first day of this war in Iran, the school in Minab in Iran was hit, schoolchildren were killed. We still do not have full answers. So whatever is signed in Switzerland on Friday and whatever the phrase is given and chosen by the White House, you know, that fact remains.
Yeah. So the big challenge then is in the next 60 days, if those negotiations do start, is for the Trump administration to get something on Iran's nuclear programme that is better than the Obama deal that he pulled out of.
Yes, the JCPOA. I mean, it is possible. that the 60-day process produces a tougher, broader agreement than the GCPOA. But it is possible that Iran would accept limits only on enrichment And the Trump administration, David, to this point has failed to find a way to deal with this. So the fate of Iran's enriched uranium that remains unresolved, the verification mechanisms. And if you listen to experts around this and people who were involved in the JCPOA, they say that basically this only works, you can sign anything on Fridays. saying anything, basically, right, then the 60-day period is entered into where they will deal with this thorny issue of Iran's nuclear program, the fate of the enriched uranium.
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