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Iran Deal: Strait Reopens, Can Sell Oil06/17 06:14
Iran will immediately take steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz once a
tentative deal with the U.S. to end the war is signed and will be allowed to
sell its oil without restrictions, according to leaked copies of an interim
agreement that officials say broadly matches the document.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Iran will immediately take steps to
reopen the Strait of Hormuz once a tentative deal with the U.S. to end the war
is signed and will be allowed to sell its oil without restrictions, according
to leaked copies of an interim agreement that officials say broadly matches the
document.
The accord, due to be formally signed in a ceremony in Switzerland on
Friday, lays out that the U.S. would secure at least $300 billion to rebuild
Iran after the war and work to end all American and United Nations sanctions
imposed on Tehran if a final agreement addressing Iran's nuclear program is
reached.
The U.S. agreement to immediately allow Iran to sell its oil freely and the
offer to eventually lift all sanctions represent major concessions that
outstrip the terms of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which U.S.
President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from in his first term,
declaring it the "worst deal ever." This new accord likely will draw intense
criticism in Washington -- and appears to be a major setback for Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who launched the war with Trump on Feb. 28.
The deal calls for an immediate end to all fighting in Lebanon between
Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. That is one of the most
delicate parts of the agreement because Israel has maintained it will continue
to defend itself and to occupy vast swaths of Lebanon. Iran has said it must
withdraw under the deal, although the leaked versions make no mention of
withdrawal.
The two sides are to start 60 days of negotiations over a final deal that
the Trump administration insists will prevent Iran from ever developing a
nuclear weapon. The U.S. offers appear aimed at enticing Iran to strike an
agreement.
But in the meantime, Iran appears to be getting benefits up front while
making few concessions. Much of the agreement would restore the status quo
before the war, including ending hostilities and reopening the strait, which is
a crucial passage for the world's oil and natural gas and whose closure created
a historic energy crisis.
Other concessions to Iran -- some of which are extraordinary, including the
money for rebuilding, the full lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen
assets -- appear dependent on the progress of further negotiations on Iran's
nuclear program.
A person who was briefed on the memorandum of understanding after it was
signed and another who viewed a copy beforehand said it largely matched the
text of what was published by the Saudi-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya, which
reported details of the deal Tuesday. The two people spoke on condition of
anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
Another two officials in the Mideast, who spoke on condition of anonymity
for the same reason, also said the versions published by Al Arabiya and
Bloomberg broadly matched the final agreement.
The White House and other American officials have not published the terms
and did not immediately respond to questions. Iran also has not published an
official version of the deal. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency, close to
its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, claimed Wednesday that Bloomberg's
version had missing portions, without offering a full accounting.
The deal would provide relief to the global economy
The deal provides a major win for the global economy -- the reopening of the
Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of
all oil and natural gas traded once passed before the war began. Since then,
Iranian attacks on shipping and the threat to vessels effectively shut the
strait.
The strait's closure drove up energy prices around the world and made many
basics, including food, more expensive. Iran let out some vessels that paid
tolls, something never done before in the strait, which sits in the territorial
waters of Iran and Oman and long has been considered an international waterway.
The U.S. later provided military support to get other tankers out, but traffic
through the strait was nowhere near levels before the war.
The deal calls for the U.S. to lift a blockade imposed on Iranian ports and
for the strait to return to its prewar traffic levels in 30 days, while
acknowledging Iranian mines may still be in its waters that need to be
destroyed.
The deal provides major concessions to Iran
While the deal says that the eventual lifting of sanctions on Iran will
depend on future negotiations, the U.S. will immediately issue waivers on
Iranian oil sales.
Granting oil waivers directly at the start of the 60-day talks strips the
U.S. of a major point of leverage over Iran. In the years before the 2015
nuclear deal, Iranian oil faced international sanctions limiting their sales.
Only at the conclusion of the overall deal in 2015 were those sanctions lifted.
The interim deal also opens the door to ending all sanctions Iran faces from
the U.S. and at the U.N. -- though it says the schedule for that will be worked
out later. Still, that is far beyond the 2015 deal, which only lifted some
sanctions in exchange for Iran drastically reducing its enrichment and
stockpile of uranium.
The accord would also provide Iran with at least $300 billion to rebuild
after an intense U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign -- an extraordinary figure
and another major benefit for Iran. U.S. Vice President JD Vance has said Gulf
Arab nations would provide that amount as investments in Iran.
The deal leaves much more to be resolved in future negotiations
The interim deal sets a 60-day window, which can be extended, to negotiate
over limiting Iran's nuclear program, which has been discussed at multiple
rounds of talks during Trump's second administration without success. Iran
maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, though it has enough highly enriched
uranium to build multiple atomic bombs, should it choose to do so, according to
the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In the interim deal, Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear
weapons -- a promise that it also made in the 2015 nuclear accord. Iranian
diplomats have long pointed to statements from the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
that Iran wouldn't build an atomic bomb. It remains unclear whether Khamenei's
son, Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, will follow that or
not.
Trump has cited shifting goals for the war, including at times vowing it
would end Iran's nuclear and missile programs and its support for Hezbollah and
other proxy groups in the region. He also suggested it could lead to toppling
the Iranian government.
The interim deal falls short of all of these goals. The negotiations also
exposed a rift between Netanyahu and Trump, the Israeli leader's closest and
most important ally, just as Netanyahu is seeking reelection. Netanyahu has
come under heavy domestic criticism over the emerging deal but will be hard
pressed to go against Trump, given Israel's heavy reliance on the U.S. for
diplomatic and military support.
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