We’re about to close this page. will resume our live coverage of the latest in the Middle East crisis on a fresh blog later in the day. You can see a full report here, and below is a recap of the latest on another eventful day.
Donald Trump. Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian both digitally signed the memorandum of understanding in English and Farsi aimed at ending the war with Iran, US and Iranian officials said. Iran’s foreign ministry said the agreement was already in effect as of Wednesday, as did mediator Pakistan.
The deal calls for an immediate and permanent halt to military operations on all fronts, includes Lebanon. It commits both sides. their allies to cease hostilities and refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, though Israel retains the right to strike back if Hezbollah attacks.
Washington. Iran have 60 days to reach a final deal to be endorsed by a binding UN security council resolution. Senior US officials said the administration would know within “days or weeks, not months” if Iran was stalling –. was prepared to tighten economic pressure significantly if talks broke down.
Trump threatened to resume attacks and kill Iranian officials if Tehran failed to honour its commitments. “We’re going to bomb the hell out of them if they violate the agreement,” Trump said of Iran. “I don’t want them to. I want them to honour the agreement.”
The memorandum reportedly includes the full resumption of maritime traffic “with no charge” in the strait of Hormuz, the lifting of a US blockade of Iranian ports, the waiving of US sanctions on Iran, the unfreezing of its assets,. a $300bn investment fund for Iran’s post-war reconstruction Under the agreement Iran also undertakes not to build nuclear weapons, reaffirming a vow it had made for decades. It also agreed to an on-site “down-blending” of its stockpile of enriched uranium.
Lead Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the Hormuz strait “will not return to prewar conditions”. that Iran would charge ships to transit the waterway – which Trump has opposed– after the 60-day toll-free period stipulated in the agreement.
Oil prices fell again on prospects for the reopening of the Hormuz strait, with Brent crude futures below $80 at Wednesday – their lowest level since the war’s start –. later regaining more than 1% after Trump threatened renewed violence.
The US-Iran deal has been shrouded in secrecy and confusion for days.
US officials refused to disclose the terms even after saying Donald Trump. vice-president JD Vance digitally signed it over the weekend, the Associated Press is reporting.
Trump signed a physical copy on Wednesday while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron at Versailles, as posted earlier.
The White House had planned a signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland, but its fate is now uncertain, with conflicting information from the US, Iran. mediator Pakistan.
“It’s signed,” Trump said as he left the dinner at Versailles. which followed his trip to the G7 summit in France. “This was not easy,” he said right before signing, according to a video posted to social media by Macron.
In Tehran, a stone-faced President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the deal on behalf of Iran, according to the state-run Irna news agency, which posted an image of him holding up the deal with his signature. Trump’s.
Washington has still not formally released the text of the agreement. US officials dictated draft language to journalists after days of secrecy, speaking on condition of anonymity. Iranian state media has released text that largely tracked what the US put out.
More on markets here: Asian stocks were steady. oil prices dipped after the US and Iran signed their interim peace deal, although uncertainties around the conflict remained among investors.
The agreement extends the ceasefire by another 60 days to allow the two sides to negotiate a final truce, but as just mentioned, Donald Trump has threatened to resume attacks. kill Iranian officials if they failed to honour their commitments.
A senior financial market analyst at capital.com, Kyle Rodda, said:
double quotation mark Major geopolitical risk persists and will also remain a major driver of market action.
Reuters also reports that MSCI ’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat on Thursday, although Japan’s Nikkei share average rallied to another record high on gains in semiconductor. AI-related shares.
Oil prices fell, with US crude dipping 1.25% to $75.83 a barrel. Brent crude down 1.4% to $78.41 a barrel.
Recent declines in oil prices have begun to ease worries about an economic slowdown, especially in energy-importing Europe. The International Energy Agency said on Wednesday the oil market would move into a significant supply surplus in 2027 after recovering from the closure of the strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices have fallen amid the interim US-Iran deal on ending the war, with Brent crude futures down $1.03 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures dropping $1.13 a barrel.
Earlier in day oil prices had fallen on optimism the strait of Hormuz would be reopened, with Brent crude futures below $80 – their lowest level since the Iran war began in late February –. later rose more than 1% after Donald Trump threatened to renew attacks if Tehran didn’t “behave”.
A handful of US Senate Republicans have sharply criticised the agreement Donald Trump reached with Iran. accusing the administration of committing “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades”.
Washington is framing the accord as a “major win” for the US, even though it makes significant political. financial concessions to Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz and prevent what Trump said would otherwise be a “worldwide depression”.
“Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” outgoing Republican senator Bill Cassidy declared on X.
double quotation mark Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed,. they have learned that threatening the strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future. Now, Iran gets to build brand-new infrastructure under this deal.
Senior administration officials said the deal would help prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,. critics argue the deal achieves less than the one Barack Obama negotiated with Iran in 2015.
The Republican senator Lindsey Graham. one of Trump’s most vocal congressional allies, said in the immediate aftermath of the deal’s announcement he was “somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming”.
Republican senator Thom Tillis said it was “concerning” the Trump administration was considering a $300bn fund for Iran as part of the accord.
See the full report here:
What exactly’s in the “memorandum of understanding” between the US and Iran? This explainer goes through what’s known, including:
An immediate and permanent halt to fighting on both sides, and including in Lebanon.
Iran must restore traffic through the strait of Hormuz within 30 days.
Iran agrees to down-blend its enriched uranium.
Sanctions relief is tied to a final agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iran to receive waivers for crude oil exports.
Iran’s frozen assets to be released only after it implements the deal’s terms.
Both sides have 60 days to negotiate a final agreement – a timeframe extendable by mutual consent.
See each point explained here:
Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has just said the US-Iran agreement is taking “immediate effect” after being signed by both sides.
His post on social media that said “as a first step, Islamic Republic of Iran will instantly reopen the Strait of Hormuz. the United States of America will immediately lift the naval blockade”.
Sharif, who helped mediate the memorandum of understanding, also reportedly said there would still be a formal signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday to “commemorate this landmark event. commence with the technical level talks”.
As he left Versailles on Wednesday night. after a dinner in honor of the 250th anniversary of American independence, Donald Trump told reporters for French TV waiting outside that he had signed the memorandum of understanding with Iran in the former palace of French kings.
“Did you sign the deal? Did you sign the MOU?” reporters asked.
“It’s signed, yeah,” Trump cupped his hands and shouted to reporters. “I signed it in Versailles,” the president added, making a gesture of signature and pointing back to the palace.
On social media. the historian Kevin Kruse reacted with disbelief to the president signing the agreement to end his war in the same location where Germany was forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Versailles in 1919, accepting its loss in the first world war.
double quotation mark He signed an unconditional surrender at Versailles? Come the fuck on.
The White House then released video of Trump adding his signature to the 14-point agreement at the dinner table in the palace.
When he announced that the US. Israel had launched a war against Iran on 28 February, Donald Trump said one of the reasons the attack was necessary was that Iran had been “developing long-range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas and could soon reach the American homeland”.
“We’re going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,” the president insisted. “It will be totally, again, obliterated.”
On Wednesday – 109 days later – Trump said it would be “unfair” for Iran to not have “some” ballistic missiles. telling reporters in Paris:
double quotation mark I’m saying that if other countries have them. it’s a little bit unfair for them not to have some. A ballistic missile is not the same things as what we’re talking about, when we talk nuclear. But if Saudi Arabia. Qatar, and they all have some, I would say, in relative proportion, I think it’s OK.
The US-Iran agreement calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. would waive sanctions on the country, immediately allowing Iran to sell its oil freely in a major concession from Washington, according to language released by both countries.
The deal’s text hasn’t yet been formally released but a draft read by US officials includes language that Iran agrees not to develop or procure nuclear weapons. requires that Iran’s highly enriched uranium be downgraded on site as a minimum, the Associated Press is reporting.
In return, the US will move to waive – but not eliminate – some wide-ranging sanctions against Iran.
Much of the agreement would restore the status quo before the war, including ending hostilities, reopening the strait of Hormuz. restarting US-Iran talks over Tehran’s nuclear program – and the deal appears to offer Iran several benefits up front while extracting little in return.
The US agreement to immediately allow Iran to sell its oil freely. the offer to eventually lift all sanctions represent major concessions that go beyond the terms of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, the report says. Donald Trump withdrew the US from that Obama-era pact in his first term, declaring it the “worst deal ever”.
Iran is saying talks with the US set for Friday in Switzerland are now not confirmed.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said early on Thursday, cited by Reuters:
double quotation mark The Friday meeting was confirmed until a few hours ago, but when it was decided that the presidents of the two sides [Iran. the US] would sign the agreement, it was decided to pause consideration of the Friday meeting for now.
Earlier it was expected. the US-Iran memorandum of understanding would be officially signed at a ceremony in Geneva on Friday. But reports quoting both sides say presidents Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian have now signed the MoU.
As the adage goes: no plan of battle survives first contact with the enemy.
Donald Trump entered the war with Iran with maximalist goals: eliminating the country’s nuclear programme, destroying its ballistic missile programme. ending its support for regional military groups including Hezbollah and Hamas.
He exits it with Iran’s word not to build a bomb. to hold further nuclear discussions, no mention in writing of the ballistic missile programme and with Hezbollah celebrating a “victory” as the memorandum of understanding (MOU) instituted a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel has seized a swath of the country as a “buffer zone”.
Iran’s key asset ended up being the strait of Hormuz. the waterway that almost every previous simulation of the war predicated would be quickly cut off by Iran. To reopen the strait. the administration was forced to fold on its broader goals or face what Trump called a “worldwide depression”.
It has been clear for days that the Trump administration was skittish about putting out the text of its MOU. It was only finally read out by a senior administration official on a briefing call on Wednesday,. the White House still has not published a copy online.
The reasoning is clear: many in Trump’s own party will hate this deal. The outgoing US senator Bill Cassidy, of Maryland, called it the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades”.
The full analysis is here:
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson is also being quoted as saying that Iran must be able to sell its oil – with no problems around transport. insurance – and must receive the revenues from its oil sales.
More on the strait of Hormuz: Iran is saying it will “not return to pre war conditions”. that Tehran will charge ships to transit the waterway after a 60-day toll-free period stipulated in the memorandum of understanding.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei reportedly said the issue of the strait would be the responsibility of Iran. Oman.
Chief Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on state television that the “strait of Hormuz will not return to prewar conditions”. adding:
double quotation mark Iran has the right to sovereignty over the strait of Hormuz. of course we will receive a fee for services.
Donald Trump has previously said he would not accept tolls being imposed for crossing the vital energy route, through which about a fifth of global oil. LNG supplies usually travel. But in defending the US deal with Tehran, he said that if it was not struck the strait would “never have been opened”. a “worldwide depression” would result.
Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war with Iran. a White House official told Reuters. The text of the agreement has been officially signed by the presidents of both sides. Iran state media reported, citing foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei.
The deal for an immediate and permanent halt to military operations on all fronts, includes Lebanon. The deal commits both sides. their allies to cease hostilities and refrain from the threat or use of force against each other – though Israel retains the right to strike back if Hezbollah attacks.
Israel has not been shown the final text of the MOU. according to its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, though senior US officials said he had been briefed consistently on its substance.
Iran will not receive broad sanctions relief simply by signing. Senior officials were emphatic on a press call that sanctions removal is directly tied to nuclear performance. Iran has committed to destroying its enriched uranium stockpile at minimum through down-blending under IAEA supervision – a concession officials called “a major. major win”.
The strait of Hormuz is set to reopen for toll-free commercial passage within 30 days. Iran had already stopped firing on vessels in the strait the day before the signing call – the first such pause in 100 days of conflict. One immediate upside for Tehran does kick in upon signing: a US treasury waiver on Iranian crude oil exports. Iran said it will charge ships crossing strait of Hormuz after 60 days, AFP reported.
Both sides have 60 days to reach a final deal to be endorsed by a binding UN security council resolution. Senior US officials said the administration would know within “days or weeks, not months” if Iran was stalling –. was prepared to tighten economic pressure significantly if talks broke down.
Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war with Iran. a White House official told Reuters.
The text of the agreement has been officially signed by the presidents of both sides. Iran state media reported, citing foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei.
The US. Iran have signed the MOU for ending war electronically on Wednesday and it is now in effect, according to website Axios.
Iran said it will charge ships crossing the strait of Hormuz after 60 days, AFP reported.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf,, Iran’s top negotiator, said in an interview aired on state television: “Iran has the right to sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. of course we will receive a fee for services.”
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