US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is on a visit to India. In a conversation with journalists, he assessed that there was a chance that Iran would adopt an agreement ending the war, perhaps even on Saturday. In turn, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai said on state television that Tehran was finalizing the protocol of the agreement with the US.
A breakthrough between the US and Iran? Tehran responds
Esmail Baghai, quoted by AFP, reported that Tehran is in the process of finalizing the memorandum of understanding with the US. The agency reports that Baghai said on Iranian state television that Tehran “first wanted to write down a protocol of agreement (…) consisting of 14 clauses.” He added that in the negotiations with the American side there was a “tendency towards rapprochement”.
Moreover, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the issue of Iran developing nuclear weapons is not currently part of the agreement with the US. US officials have repeatedly argued that the attack on Iran was necessary because Tehran was close to obtaining such weapons. Baghai emphasized that Part of the agreement is to include US forces ending the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Will there be a breakthrough in the US-Iran talks?
According to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the talks at the highest level, The parties to the conflict are close to reaching an agreement extending the ceasefire for 60 days. Under this agreement, the Iranian authorities are to gradually open the Strait of Hormuz, but also commit to talks about diluting or transferring Iran's stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.
On the other hand, the US is also expected to release its blockade of the Strait, relax the sanctions regime and partially unblock frozen Iranian funds.
According to the newspaper, mediators hope that the agreement's protocol will prevent US President Donald Trump from resuming attacks on Iran.
The Shiite organization Hezbollah, operating in Lebanon with the support of Tehran and implementing the policy of the ayatollahs, stated in a statement on Saturday that the Iranian proposal for an agreement with the US also included the issue of peace in Lebanon. Moreover, she said that in a message addressed to her, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi assured that Tehran would continue to support Hezbollah.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, described as Iran's chief negotiator and speaker of parliament, according to the daily “L'Orient-le-Jour”, promised that if the US resumes attacks, Iran's response “will be crushing”. Ghalibaf met earlier on Saturday in Tehran with Pakistani army commander Field Marshal Asim Munir, who is acting as a mediator in the conflict. He assured that Iran had managed to rebuild its military capabilities during the ongoing ceasefire.
Ghalibaf, according to “FT”, also said that despite the lack of trust in the US, he sees that the views of both sides are beginning to converge, “which may allow reaching an agreement, guided by certain parameters, that will be satisfactory for both sides.”
Although a truce has been in force between the US and Iran since April 8, the Strait of Hormuz, which is crucial for oil trade, remains virtually blocked.
Before the US and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28, about one-fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) were exported through the Strait of Hormuz.
