Tentative deal to extend ceasefire 

WASHINGTON (AP):

US and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative agreement yesterday to extend the ceasefire in the three-month-old war by 60 days and begin a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, according to an 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 the war between the US and Iran appeared to be wavering. The latest flare-up in fighting occurred less than a day earlier, when Kuwait intercepted missiles fired from Iran, according to US Central Command.

The memorandum makes clear that Iran will not be able to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz and that it will have to remove all mines from the vital waterway within 30 days, according to the official, who was not authorised 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 soaring around the world. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted yesterday at a news briefing that the cost of oil could “come down very quickly” once a deal is finalised.

Iran has said it is allowing some commercial vessels to pass — about two dozen daily in recent days, compared with more than 100 a day before the war — but the Islamic Republic has also charged tolls for at least some ships. It set up a formal gatekeeper agency earlier this month, prompting a new round of US sanctions this week.

Under the tentative agreement, the US would gradually lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports. It would also agree to relax sanctions, allowing Iran to sell more of its oil.

NUCLEAR ISSUE 

Among the first issues to be negotiated during the 60-day ceasefire is what will happen to Iran’s highly enriched uranium, the official said. The Islamic Republic has 440.9 kilogrammes (972 pounds) of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent purity — a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran has not publicly committed to giving up the stockpile. It is believed to be buried under a trio of nuclear sites that were badly damaged by US airstrikes last year.

Nuclear analysts have said Iran might consider China or Russia, which have close relations with Tehran, as acceptable third parties to take possession of the enriched uranium. But Trump said Wednesday that he “wouldn’t be comfortable” with such a plan.

Kuwait announced that its air defence systems intercepted incoming missiles and drones yesterday, without detailing what had been targeted. Iran said it had retaliated for strikes earlier in the week by firing on a US base in a Gulf state it did not name.

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry condemned Iran for what it called “blatant aggression”, and US Central Command described the attack on one of America’s top allies in the Persian Gulf as an “egregious ceasefire violation”. Kuwait had repeatedly come under fire from Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq before the April ceasefire began.

The exchange followed reports from US officials late Wednesday that American forces had launched further strikes on Iran, shooting down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat near the strait and striking an Iranian ground-control station in Bandar Abbas that was preparing to launch a fifth drone.

Although they have traded strikes and accusations of ceasefire violations, Washington and Tehran have not returned to full-scale hostilities and continue to negotiate.

In addition to 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 carried out an airstrike on a southern suburb of the capital, Beirut, along with other strikes in the southern coastal city of Tyre. At least 14 people were killed across the country’s south.