Negotiators for the United States and Iran appear to have reached a deal to extend the ceasefire by 60 days, but are awaiting President Donald Trump\u2019s approval, U.S. sources told MS NOW on Thursday.
\nIf Trump agrees to the deal, it would extend the ceasefire and open negotiations on Iran\u2019s nuclear program during the extended ceasefire, pushing the thorniest details over Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions down the road.
\nVice President JD Vance told reporters Thursday evening that while he \u201ccan\u2019t guarantee that we\u2019re going to get there\u201d in reaching a deal with Iran, \u201cThe president will be in a position where he can endorse the agreement, but obviously that\u2019s still TBD.\u201d
\nAxios was the first to report on the potential agreement, which MS NOW has not reviewed independently. However, U.S. sources confirmed various details of the possible deal to MS NOW. According to the sources, during the 60-day ceasefire extension:
\nShipping through the Strait of Hormuz would be \u201cunrestricted\u201d
\nIran would have to remove all mines from the strait within 30 days
\nThe U.S. naval blockade would be lifted in proportion to the restoration of commercial shipping
\nThe U.S. would issue some sanctions waivers to allow Iran to sell oil
\nThe U.S. sources also said the memorandum of understanding that is awaiting Trump\u2019s approval includes Iran\u2019s commitment to not pursue a nuclear weapon as well as the U.S.\u2019s commitment to discuss sanctions relief and the release of Iranian money frozen in foreign banks. The first issue to be negotiated, according to this possible agreement, is the disposal of Iran\u2019s highly enriched uranium and the country\u2019s enrichment program, the sources said.
\nThe possible deal would also end the war between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon, sources said. Still, U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and Lebanon are expected to move ahead as scheduled for Friday at the Pentagon and next week at the State Department, a U.S. official told MS NOW.
\nNews of a possible deal follows a recent exchange of strikes in the Middle East, with U.S. Central Command earlier Thursday accusing Iran of an \u201cegregious ceasefire violation\u201d by targeting Kuwait with a missile hours earlier. Kuwaiti forces successfully intercepted the missile, the U.S. military said.
\n\u201cThis egregious ceasefire violation by the Iranian regime occurred hours after Iranian forces launched five one-way attack drones that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d CENTCOM said in a statement Thursday on social media.
\n\u201cAll drones were successfully intercepted by U.S. forces which also prevented a sixth drone launch from an Iranian ground control site in Bandar Abbas,\u201d the statement said. \u201cU.S. Central Command and regional partners remain vigilant and measured as we continue to defend our forces and interests from unjustified Iranian aggression.\u201d
\nA U.S. official told MS NOW in a statement Wednesday that the ceasefire agreement remains in effect and described the U.S. military actions as \u201cmeasured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire.\u201d
\nTrump said Wednesday that Iran wants \u201cvery much to make a deal\u201d but \u201cthey haven\u2019t gotten there,\u201d adding that Iran was \u201cnegotiating on fumes.\u201d
\n\u201cWe\u2019re not satisfied with it, but we will be,\u201d Trump told reporters at a Cabinet meeting at the White House, adding, \u201cThey\u2019re negotiating on fumes. But we\u2019ll see what happens. Maybe we have to go back and finish it, maybe we don\u2019t.\u201d
\nWhen asked Thursday during a White House press briefing about a possible U.S.-Iran deal, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to confirm whether an agreement had been reached.
\n\u201cEverything depends on what the president wants to do,\u201d Bessent said. \u201cAnd President Trump is not going to make a bad deal for the American people, for the U.S., and he was very clear at the Cabinet meeting \u2026 what he wants.\u201d
\nTrump said Saturday that his administration had \u201clargely\u201d reached a deal that would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman through which 20% of the world\u2019s oil supply flows.
\nKey Republicans, however, said they were skeptical of Trump\u2019s deal because it was unclear whether it required Iran to give up its supply of enriched uranium or reduce its vast stockpile of missiles.
\nThe conflict began Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. While a fragile ceasefire took effect in April, efforts to negotiate a long-term deal have been unsuccessful.
\nA top Pentagon official told Congress the war has cost an estimated $25 billion as of early May, though Democrats have said it is likely higher.
\nAlso at issue is Israel\u2019s war with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group based in southern Lebanon, a major hurdle in the failed rounds of U.S.-Iran peace negotiations. Israel and Hezbollah have continued to trade strikes amid an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreed to in May.
\nThe war\u2019s effects have rippled across the world. In the U.S., gas and fertilizer prices have skyrocketed, and Trump\u2019s poll numbers have plummeted.
\nTrump has also faced criticism for what appeared to be inconsistent objectives for the war\u2019s aims, an ever-expanding timeline for how long it would last and an expletive-laden Easter Sunday message in which he threatened to obliterate Iranian civilization.
\nThe war has led to more than 6,900 deaths across the Middle East, according to figures compiled by MS NOW. That includes more than 3,600 people in Iran, more than 3,100 people in Lebanon, at least 13 U.S. soldiers and at least a half dozen U.N. peacekeepers.
\nThis is a developing story. Check back for updates.
\nCarla Herreria and Hayley Meissner contributed reporting.
\n#USIranCeasefire #TrumpApproval #MiddleEastDiplomacy #IranNuclearDeal #StraitOfHormuz #SanctionsRelief #HezbollahConflict #PeaceNegotiations #IranOil #GlobalSecurity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Negotiators for the United States and Iran appear to have reached a deal to extend the ceasefire by 60 days, but are awaiting President Donald Trump\u2019s approval, U.S. sources told MS NOW on Thursday. If Trump agrees to the deal, it would extend the ceasefire and open negotiations on Iran\u2019s nuclear program during the extended […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}