US President Donald Trump said that Iran and the United States could sign a preliminary peace agreement – a memorandum of understanding – this Thursday or Friday.
“Tomorrow, or maybe the day after tomorrow,” Trump said at a news conference after the G7 summit in Evian, France. He had previously said the memorandum would be signed on Friday in Switzerland.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the memorandum could be signed by Presidents Donald Trump and Massoud Peskov, although the plan has not yet been finalized.
US administration officials gathered journalists in Evian and read them the text of the fourteen-point memorandum.
The content of the document generally corresponds to press leaks from recent days: the memorandum speaks in particular of the cessation of military actions on all fronts, including Lebanon, the future lifting of sanctions against Tehran, and the creation of a $300 billion fund for the reconstruction of Iran.
The US-Iran deal could become a political nightmare for Benjamin Netanyahu,
as Trump and his team insist it is still just a memorandum and its provisions will only be implemented if Iran “behaves well.”
The final peace treaty, as outlined in the memorandum, is expected to be agreed upon by the parties within 60 days.
As BBC correspondents from Evian report, in addition to this clause on 60-day negotiations, the memorandum contains the following main points:
Cessation of hostilities throughout the region. “Immediate and final cessation of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon”;
Ending the US naval blockade of Iranian ports within 30 days and the subsequent withdrawal of all US forces from Iranian borders within 30 days of the signing of a final peace treaty;
Opening the Strait of Hormuz. Duty-free shipping will be open for 60 days, after which Iran, as a US administration official said, “will work not only with Oman but also with other Gulf states to create a broader and more permanent agreement on the Strait of Hormuz.”
$300 billion for reconstruction and development of Iran. The United States, together with its regional partners, promises to create a fund for the “reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran” of at least $300 billion;
Lifting of all sanctions against Tehran. The United States promises to “lift all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran”; a timetable for their lifting is to be agreed upon later;
The absence of nuclear weapons in Iran. The United States and Iran have agreed that Iran will never develop or acquire nuclear weapons and will cooperate to eliminate Iran’s enriched uranium.
As reported by the BBC’s Bernd Debussmann Jr., US representatives, after familiarizing journalists with the memorandum, once again emphasized that the memorandum does not oblige the US to anything and that the implementation of its points will depend on Iran’s behavior.
Furthermore, regarding the $300 billion fund, they stated that the US is not committing to contributing to it: it is only promising to work with its regional partners to develop a recovery and development plan for Iran worth at least $300 billion.
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“Context”
When Donald Trump was asked at a press conference whether the US would actually give Iran access to oil sales revenues as well as this future fund, he replied: “Only if they do everything right.”
Trump also repeated what he has said dozens of times: that Iran will be “bombed to death” if it does not comply with the agreement.
This time, Trump said this in response to a question about whether there are mechanisms in the peace plan that could force Iran to comply with its renunciation of nuclear weapons.
Trump gave the same answer to a question about guarantees that Iran would not impose tariffs on merchant ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.