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Washington is nearing a deal to extend its ceasefire with Iran by 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, pending Donald Trump’s sign-off, according to US officials.
The renewed optimism in Washington comes after US and Iranian forces exchanged fire overnight and follows days of conflicting signals over the agreement that have sparked big swings in energy markets.
A US official said negotiators from both sides had reached a memorandum of understanding but added the US president had not approved the document and needed some days to think about it.
Iran did not confirm the White House’s version of events, which were first reported by Axios. The country’s Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, on Wednesday warned that Trump could unilaterally announce the agreement even though Tehran believed some issues were unresolved.
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Thursday that negotiators “have been going back and forth” but that Trump maintains “several red lines”.
“Iran has to turn over their highly enriched uranium, they cannot pursue a nuclear weapon, and . . . navigation of the seas has to be free as it was before,” Bessent said at a White House news conference. Trump was “not going to take a bad deal”, he added.
Under the proposed terms, Iran would gradually allow the strait to reopen and remove mines from the waterway. It would not charge ships a fee for the duration of the 60-day period, said people briefed on the talks.
Negotiations would also begin over Iran’s nuclear programme, with a commitment to discuss Tehran either diluting or handing over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Iran would also agree not to develop a nuclear weapon.
In return, the US would agree, in phases, to sanctions relief and the unblocking of Iran’s assets held overseas, although that would depend on progress towards a final pact. Washington would also ease its naval blockade on Iranian ports.
The administration has publicly disputed many of those details in recent days. Trump said on Wednesday that sanctions relief and Iranian access to frozen funds were not on the table.
“Nothing is going to be on the table until” Iran reopens the strait, hands over its nuclear material, and abandons any ambition for a nuclear weapon, Bessent said on Thursday.
Pakistani and Qatari mediators have intensified efforts to build on a fragile April 8 ceasefire over the past two weeks amid concerns that Trump would resume strikes on Iran and reignite a full-blown war.
Iran’s effective closure of the strait since the US and Israel launched their war on the Islamic republic on February 28 has triggered the worst global energy crisis in decades. About a fifth of the world’s oil normally transits through the narrow waterway.
The price of oil fell on hopes of a deal. Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled 0.6 per cent lower at $93.71 a barrel, near its lowest level in about six weeks.
Trump said on Wednesday any deal would need to see the strait opened “immediately”. But Iran wants to maintain administrative control over the waterway, including an ability to charge tolls.
The US president has said he would not accept such a system, and threatened on Wednesday to “blow up” Gulf ally Oman, which has been working with Iran on a framework for managing the strait.
Bessent said on Thursday that Oman’s ambassador to Washington had assured him there were “no plans” to toll the waterway. Oman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bessent’s remarks.
Trump and his aides have on multiple occasions forecast an imminent deal, only to then blame Iran for failing to meet Washington’s terms for the agreement.
Speaking at length about the conflict during Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, Trump also said he would only sign a deal that was “perfect” and insisted he was unconcerned over the political costs of the conflict.
He also said he might not sign an agreement if Washington’s Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar — which have been mediating between the US and Iran alongside Pakistan — do not agree to formalise diplomatic ties with Israel.
Additional reporting by Peter Wells in New York
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