LONDON, June 15 – This is what the U.S. and Iran, along with mediator Pakistan, have said about what is in the preliminary deal they have announced to end the war.
HOW THE DEAL WILL BE PHASED AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN:
• Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said both sides had declared an immediate and permanent end of all military operations.
• All sides have said the memorandum of understanding on an end to the war will be signed in Switzerland on Friday. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabdi said the memorandum would then be published.
• Iran and the U.S. have both said the Strait of Hormuz would start to reopen and the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports start to lift as soon as the memorandum is signed.
• Both sides have said negotiations on more difficult further areas of dispute – notably Iran’s nuclear issue and U.S. sanctions on Iran – will be conducted over the following 60 days.
STRAIT OF HORMUZ AND BLOCKADE OF IRANIAN PORTS
• U.S. President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened on Friday and he had ordered a lifting of the blockade on Iranian ports.
• A senior Iranian official said the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened “to all commercial vessels” once the memorandum was signed.
• Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that under the memorandum, marine traffic through the Strait would be regulated by Iran in coordination with Oman.
IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAMME
• Both sides have said that Iran agrees that it will neither produce nor acquire nuclear weapons – a promise Tehran has been making repeatedly for decades.
• The senior Iranian official said pending a final agreement Iran would freeze its nuclear activity, refraining from further uranium enrichment or the expansion of nuclear facilities.
• The senior Iranian official said the U.S. had agreed that Iran could dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium inside Iran under a future comprehensive agreement.
• Trump said on Saturday there was no urgency to extract Iran’s stockpile of nuclear material, and that the U.S. would retrieve it “when all is calm”.
• Trump said there would be a strong inspections regime for Iran under any detail, but he did not give specifics.
• U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said any final deal on Iran’s nuclear programme would have to be reviewed and approved by Congress.
SANCTIONS AND FINANCIAL IMPACT
• The senior Iranian official said the U.S. had agreed not to impose any new sanctions on Iran until a final deal was reached.
• They added the U.S. would waive oil sanctions on Iran for a specified period and that after the final agreement all U.S. and U.N. sanctions would be lifted to an agreed timetable.
• The senior Iranian official said the U.S. had agreed to release $25 billion of Iran’s frozen assets, including via direct cash transfers, cooperation among regional countries, and financial credit lines.
• Washington, in coordination with its regional allies, would prepare a reconstruction and development plan for Iran, to be negotiated and agreed with Tehran within 60 days, they added.
• Trump said Iran would not be provided with cash but that sanctions could potentially be lifted.
LEBANON
• Sharif said the immediate and permanent end of all military operations would include Lebanon.
• The Secretariat of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said military operations would stop permanently on Monday night including in Lebanon.
• Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there must be a complete halt to Israeli attacks against Lebanon and said the U.S. bears responsibility for implementing the framework deal.
• Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli military would remain in security zones it has captured in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made this clear to Trump. REUTERS
