The United States is close to a framework agreement with Tehran in efforts to end the war with Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday.
The agreement had been "largely" negotiated, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly," he added.
However, an Iranian military spokesman stressed on X that Tehran would continue to control the Strait of Hormuz even in the event of an agreement with the United States.
The strait, which is crucial for global oil and gas trade, would remain "under full Iranian administration and sovereignty," the spokesman said.
Iran's Fars news agency reported that Iran had agreed to increase the number of ships passing through the strait back to pre-war levels. However, this did not mean a return to "free passage" as before the war, it said.
The administration of the strait and the issuing of permits would continue to be handled by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Fars reported. Trump's claim was therefore "incomplete and does not reflect reality," the agency said.
Fourteen-point memorandum as first step
Trump initially gave no further details on the content of the planned agreement.
The US news outlet Axios, citing a US official, reported that the draft memorandum of understanding currently provides for a 60-day extension of the ceasefire. During that period, the Strait of Hormuz would be open to shipping without fees and Iran would commit to clearing mines laid there.
In return, the United States would lift its blockade of Iranian ports and grant some sanctions waivers to allow Iran to freely export oil, Axios reported.
The draft memorandum also includes a pledge by Iran never to seek nuclear weapons and to negotiate the suspension of its uranium enrichment programme and the removal of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
The United States, in turn, would agree to negotiate during the 60-day period on lifting sanctions and releasing Iranian assets.
Iran's nuclear programme remains disputed
Those steps would only take place as part of a final agreement, Axios reported. US forces would only withdraw then.
The draft also makes clear that the war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon would end, the report said.
Axios quoted the US official as saying it was possible the agreement would not even last the full 60 days if the United States was convinced that Iran was not serious about the nuclear talks.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was open to a diplomatic solution, according to the presidential office in Tehran, but stressed Iran's deep mistrust of Washington.
"We remain ready for talks, but the experience of past negotiations with the US forces us to exercise the utmost caution," Pezeshkian was quoted as saying.
Dan Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Israel and adviser in the Iran negotiations, told the Wall Street Journal that Trump had to choose between the uncertainty of escalation and the certainty of being criticized for a weak agreement. He said no one knew what Trump would choose.
Criticism in the US
Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas wrote on X that he was "deeply concerned."
"If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime - still run by Islamists who chant 'death to America' - now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake," Cruz wrote.
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. A ceasefire has been in place since early April.
Iran expert Danny Citrinowicz wrote on X that it was hard to overstate how much Netanyahu would see this moment as a possible personal and political defeat.
An agreement between the US and Iran under Trump would be a severe blow for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mainly diplomatically, but above all politically, he said.
No reaction from Israel so far
Citrinowicz wrote that Netanyahu had believed greater military strength would either force Iran into submission or destabilize its leadership.
Instead, he said, the result was a more radicalized, more resilient and more dangerous Iran, which even Washington was now hesitant to confront militarily again.
Netanyahu, who is expected to face voters in a few months, did not initially comment publicly on Trump's announcement overnight.
