The United States and Iran have made “a lot of progress” towards an agreement but Donald Trump is not yet ready to approve it, American Vice President JD Vance assured Thursday, May 28. According to information revealed by the American site Axios, Washington and Tehran are close to an agreement framework which provides for a 60-day extension of the ceasefire in progress since April 8.
Since the start of the conflict, triggered by the Israeli-American offensive on February 28, Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to attack any ship that ventures there. It is in this context that the negotiations, conducted under the aegis of Pakistan and then Qatar, resulted in the outline of an agreement structured in three phases: the end of the war, the settlement of the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, then the opening of a window for broader negotiations.
Removal of Iranian mines
According to Axios, the text submitted to the American president provides that access to the Strait of Hormuz is “unlimited” during the sixty-day period, which implies that Iran removes all mines in the area. The American blockade of Iranian ports would be lifted gradually as maritime traffic is restored. Tehran would also be authorized to sell its oil thanks to a suspension of American sanctions.
At this stage, Washington is not proposing a thaw of Iranian assets blocked globally, estimated at $25 billion, but says it is ready to consider it if Iran cedes its enriched uranium, according to the New York Times on May 24.
Divergences on nuclear power
The May 28 framework agreement does not resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, but opens the way for further negotiations on this subject. This is the point on which the American and Iranian versions diverge most clearly. Two US officials told the New York Times that Iran would have agreed, in principle, to divest itself of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. But a senior Iranian source categorically denies: “The nuclear issue is not part of the current agreement. »
On May 24, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he was ready to “reassure the world” that there was no military aim, but ruled out any compromise on the “honor and dignity of Iran.” Conversely, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had made nuclear dismantling a sine qua non condition for an agreement. “Iran will not possess nuclear weapons,” he reaffirmed on X on May 24.
On May 25, Donald Trump added a further demand by demanding that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Muslim countries normalize relations with Israel by signing the Abraham Accords. But Saudi Arabia conditions any normalization on the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state, a project which Israel opposes.
