Trump says Iran deal is 'all signed', text to be released soon
An official signing ceremony for the agreement is due to be held on Friday in Geneva, just an hour's drive away along the lakeshore from the summit venue of Evian-les-Bains in the French Alps.
US President Donald Trump said yesterday (15 June) a memorandum of understanding aiming to end the war in the Gulf has already been signed by the United States and Iran, drawing calls from his opponents to publish the text.
"The deal's all signed. And the strait is already partially opened," Trump said shortly after arriving in France for a summit of the G7 group of big economies, hailing the agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz, where a three-month blockade of Gulf oil supplies has caused global economic disruption.
An official signing ceremony for the agreement is due to be held on Friday (19 June) in Geneva, just an hour's drive away along the lakeshore from the summit venue of Evian-les-Bains in the French Alps.
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Asked when the text of the memorandum would be made public, Trump said: "Probably pretty soon. I would say after sometime after Friday... I think sometime in the very near future."
US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York called on Trump to release the details publicly and brief Congress.
"The American people deserve details and full transparency - what exactly is in this 'understanding'?" Schumer asked in a statement. "Will servicemembers remain in harm's way. And what have we actually gained here from Trump's war?"
In an early reminder of the agreement's fragility, Israel - which launched the war alongside the United States in February and was not consulted on the talks to end it - struck a car with a drone in southern Lebanon, where it has been battling the Iran-aligned Hezbollah movement.
Iran has said the deal requires a full cessation of hostilities there. Israel says it retains the right to act militarily.
A US official said Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon was not a condition of the deal: "The deal is a ceasefire, and it will not be a one-way ceasefire, meaning that if Iran is not able to control Hezbollah, and if they attack Israeli positions or Israeli towns, Israel will have the right to defend themselves and respond."
Oil prices tumbled on the prospect of an end to disruption to global energy supplies, and share prices soared, some hitting new records.
60-DAY NEGOTIATION PERIOD
According to accounts from both sides, the agreement would reopen the blockaded strait and extend a ceasefire for a 60-day negotiation period, when contentious issues such as the future of Iran's nuclear programme are due to be decided.
While the terms remain unpublished, US officials say economic benefits to Iran foreseen under the deal are contingent on it satisfying US demands never to build a nuclear weapon.
Vance, speaking to CBS News, said the deal could ultimately end with Iran being given access to a reconstruction fund of up to $300 billion, funded by its Gulf Arab neighbours, provided it fulfills promises to give up nuclear material.
Iranian officials, who have always denied intending to build a nuclear weapon, say they have given up little and have secured Washington's commitment to lift sanctions, release frozen assets and pay damages for the war Trump launched alongside Israel.
Meanwhile, the immediate fate of the pact could hinge on Lebanon, where Israel has been battling the Iran-aligned Hezbollah armed group in parallel with the wider war that it launched alongside the United States against Iran in February.
Security sources said fighting in southern Lebanon had tamped down on Monday after the agreement was announced but had not ceased entirely.
In the first strike of its kind since the announcement, an Israeli drone struck a car in the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Tebnit, killing the driver, Lebanese state media reported. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike.
LEBANON HAS BEEN A STICKING POINT
While the US and Iran had largely ceased hostilities in early April, fighting has not ceased in Lebanon, where Hezbollah opened fire on Israel in support of Tehran on March 2 and Israel responded with an air campaign and ground invasion that has uprooted some 1.2 million people.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there must be a complete halt to Israeli attacks against Lebanon and wrote on Telegram that the US bears responsibility for implementing the framework deal.
Hezbollah welcomed the deal and said the inclusion of Lebanon reflected Iran's commitment to securing a halt to the war and preserving Lebanon's rights.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to respond publicly to the US-Iran agreement. Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Israel would remain "indefinitely" in areas it is occupying in southern Lebanon to eliminate what it perceives as militant threats.
Privately, Israeli officials' views of the deal have been negative. One senior Israeli official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the agreement was "terrible for Israel," and that this assessment was shared throughout the government from Netanyahu on down.
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would help solve a global energy crisis precipitated by the war, which has hurt Trump's political fortunes by forcing up gasoline prices in the United States.
"Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!" he wrote on Sunday.
