By AAMER MADHANI, MATTHEW LEE, JON GAMBRELL and SAM METZ, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative agreement Thursday to extend the in the 3-month-old war by 60 days and launch talks on Iran’s nuclear program, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
Iran did not immediately confirm any deal, and the official noted that President Donald Trump has yet to sign off on it.
The emerging memorandum of understanding came as the fragile ceasefire in between the U.S. and Iran appeared to be wavering. The latest flare-up in fighting happened less than a day earlier, when Kuwait intercepted missiles fired from Iran, according to U.S. Central Command.
The memorandum makes clear that Iran will not be able to impose tolls on the and that Iran will have to remove all mines from the vital waterway within 30 days, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
During the war, Iran has effectively closed the strait, which had been the conduit for about a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas. Its closure has sent oil prices skyrocketing around the world. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted Thursday at a news briefing that the cost of oil could “come down very quickly” once a deal is finalized.
Iran has said it’s letting some commercial vessels pass — about two dozen daily in recent days, compared with before the war — but the Islamic Republic also has for at least some ships. It set up a formal earlier this month, spurring this week.
Under the tentative agreement, the U.S. would gradually lift its naval The U.S. would also agree to relax sanctions, allowing Iran to sell more of its oil.
A second U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private diplomacy, said the broad outlines of an agreement have been reached but stressed that until Trump signs off on it, there is no deal. The official said there still are questions about whether Trump will accept the proposal.
Nuclear issue remains unresolved
Among the first issues to be negotiated during the 60-day ceasefire is what will happen to Iran’s highly enriched uranium, the first official said. The Islamic Republic has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to .
Iran has not publicly committed to giving up the stockpile. It is believed to buried under a trio of nuclear sites that were badly damaged by U.S. airstrikes last year.
Nuclear analysts have said that Iran might consider China or Russia, which have close relations with Tehran, to be a potential acceptable third party to take possession of the enriched uranium. But Trump said Wednesday that he “wouldn’t be comfortable” with such a plan.
Details of the tentative pact were first .
Kuwait reports an attack
Kuwait announced that its air-defense systems intercepted incoming missiles and drones on Thursday, without detailing what had been targeted. Iran said it had retaliated for strikes earlier in the week by firing on a U.S. base in a Gulf state it did not name.
The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry condemned Iran for what it called “blatant aggression,” and U.S. Central Command called the attack on one of America’s top allies in the Persian Gulf an “egregious ceasefire violation.” Kuwait repeatedly came under fire from Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq before the April ceasefire began.
The exchange took place after U.S. officials said late Wednesday that American forces launched on Iran, shooting down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the strait and hitting an Iranian ground-control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged the attack around Bandar Abbas International Airport and said via the state-run IRNA news agency that it launched a retaliatory attack on the air base that launched the assaults. The Revolutionary Guard did not specify whether the response targeted Kuwait, which houses U.S. Army Central’s forward headquarters, air bases and a naval base.
On Monday, the U.S. said it conducted on missile launch sites and minelaying boats in southern Iran.
Although they have traded strikes and accusations of ceasefire violations, Washington and Tehran have not returned to full-scale hostilities and keep negotiating.
Iran wants a Lebanon angle to any deal
The developments unfolded with the Middle East on edge.
Besides sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets, Iran has insisted that any deal must include an end to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. Tensions deepened Thursday in Lebanon as Israel on a southern suburb of the capital, Beirut, and other strikes in the southern coastal city of Tyre. At least 14 people were killed across the country’s south.
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report.
