US President Donald Trump has said a preliminary deal to end the war with Iran has already been signed and suggested that details of the agreement are set to be published “pretty soon”.
“I am very happy to say it’s signed, the deal is all signed,” he said during talks with French President Emmanuel Macron at the G7 summit on Monday.
Senior US officials also began giving some details about the contents of the deal, briefing that the Strait of Hormuz would re-open on Friday – the same day the deal is formally inked in Geneva.
Technical talks on Iran’s nuclear programme are expected to begin this week, they said, while any sanctions relief or release of assets will depend on Iran meeting commitments under the deal.
Vice-President JD Vance told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the US and Iran was “about a page and a half” and was a very general document.
Vance added that a lot of the details would be worked out during future negotiations.
“On a number of issues, we are going to have to figure this stuff out during the technical negotiation phase, but what the MOU does is set up a framework whereby the Iranians get the benefits of the bargain by meeting their obligations under the bargain,” he said.
In “paragraph one” of the document it is outlined that Iran will commit itself to “regional peace and stability”, Vance said, which he added included stopping the funding of “terrorist organisations”.
“Most importantly, they’re going to have a verifiable commitment to not building a nuclear weapon,” Vance said.
The US officials said the agreement had been signed electronically by Trump, Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
They also suggested more details of the pact could be released by Wednesday – although Trump said the full text of the agreement would be released “pretty soon” after Friday’s ceremony.
“It’s a very powerful document, and I want it to be released. So probably pretty soon,” the president said.
The deal will extend a ceasefire for another 60 days, during which the sides will negotiate details of a final agreement.
Announcing the breakthrough on Sunday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose nation had been mediating, said it included “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”.–BBC
