U.S. officials reveal Iran deal includes plan to reopen Strait of Hormuz, 2-month window for nuclear talks

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Senior U.S. Officials dictated the memorandum of understanding with Iran to journalists Wednesday after days of secrecy, and Iran suggested that its deal with the United States could be signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Such an signing ceremony would represent a major step for the two countries, which saw diplomatic relations break off in 1980 over the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran. But Trump has already cast some uncertainty on whether the signing would happen as planned.

The U.S. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity to read the the draft, which Iran has not released, ahead of a formal signing ceremony set for Friday.

According to the officials, the draft agreement includes a new "minimum" standard for downblending of highly enriched Iranian uranium and has provisions to ensure the "territorial integrity" of Lebanon after Israel's latest attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanese territory.

In return, the U.S. Will move to waive, but not eliminate, some wide-ranging sanctions against Iran once the deal is signed.

The U.S. 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.

Iranian authorities say deal with U.S. Is a 'victory'

Meanwhile in Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei was quoted by Iranian state television talking about the potential for the two presidents to sign the pact.

Pezeshkian became president on a promise of seeking better relations with the West. However, he's been sidelined for months after Iran's mass killing of protesters in January and in the war as hard-liners have taken over the levers of the country's theocracy.

Asked by reporters at the G7 in France how confident he was that the ceremony would take place, Trump remarked on the unpredictability of deals.

"You never know with deals, do you? But you're going to find out pretty soon."

The U.S. And Israel went to war on Feb. 28 in part to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon, although Trump's goals in the conflict have repeatedly shifted. The interim deal stops the war before that aim is secured. Instead, it opens a two-month period for nuclear negotiations and appears to offer Iran several benefits up front while extracting little in return.

The U.S. Agreement to immediately allow Iran to sell its oil freely and the offer to eventually lift all sanctions, for instance, represent major concessions that go beyond the terms of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Trump withdrew the United States from that pact in his first term, declaring it the "worst deal ever."

The accord likely will draw intense opposition in Washington, and it appears to be a major setback for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has come under criticism at home from the media, his opponents and even some allies as details emerge.

Much of the agreement would restore the status quo before the war, including ending hostilities and reopening the strait, which is a crucial passage for the world's oil and natural gas and whose closure created a historic energy crisis.

Trump, in response to a reporter's question at the G7 summit in France, said that the text of the agreement is not final and that if Iran doesn't "behave" the U.S. Will "go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their ​head."

He also opened the door to abandoning it: "It's a memorandum of understanding, and if I don't like it, we'll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs."

The deal also includes an end to the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. That is one of the most delicate parts of the agreement because Israel has maintained it will continue to defend itself and to occupy vast swaths of Lebanon. Iran has said Israel must withdraw under the deal, although the leaked versions make no mention of withdrawal.

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Netanyahu, facing an election this year, has maintained that Israel will continue to defend itself and to occupy vast swaths of Lebanon.

"I want Israel to protect themselves, but I do want them to use good judgment," Trump said Wednesday from France.

Iranian attacks on shipping and the threat to vessels largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, drove up energy prices around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive. The U.S. Later provided military support to get some ships out, but traffic through the strait is nowhere near levels before the war.

The deal calls for the U.S. To lift its blockade imposed on Iranian ports and for the strait to return to its prewar traffic levels in 30 days, while acknowledging Iranian mines may still be in its waters that need to be destroyed.

While the deal says that the eventual lifting of sanctions on Iran will depend on future negotiations, the U.S. Will immediately issue waivers on Iranian oil sales.

The interim deal also opens the door to ending all sanctions Iran faces from the U.S. And at the UN — including those over Tehran's weapons programs and human rights abuses — though it says the schedule for that will be worked out later. Still, that far surpasses the 2015 deal, which only lifted some sanctions in exchange for Iran drastically reducing its enrichment and stockpile of uranium.

The accord would also provide Iran with at least $300 billion US to rebuild after an intense U.S. And Israeli bombing campaign. The money also appears dependent on the progress of further negotiations.

Undoing the Strait of Hormuz energy crisis

In the interim deal, Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons — a promise that it also made in the 2015 nuclear accord. Iranian diplomats have long pointed to statements from the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Iran wouldn't build an atomic bomb. It remains unclear whether Khamenei's son, Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, will follow that or not.

The G7 leaders said in a statement that there is "a historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring any nuclear weapon and tackling the threats related to its regional and ballistic activities."

Trump has cited shifting goals for the war, including at times vowing it would end Iran's nuclear and missile programs and its support for Hezbollah and other proxy groups in the region.

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