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The White House believes it is getting close to an agreement with Iran on a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war and set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations, Axios reported Wednesday, citing two U.S. officials and two other sources briefed on the issue. A Pakistani source involved in the peace efforts confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday that the sides are on the brink of an agreement. "We will close this very soon. We are getting close," the source said. The U.S. expects Iranian responses on several key points in the next 48 hours, according to the report, which cautioned that nothing has been agreed yet but said this was the closest the parties had been to an agreement since the war began. Among other provisions, the deal would involve Iran committing to a moratorium on nuclear enrichment, the U.S. agreeing to lift its sanctions and release billions in frozen Iranian funds, and both sides lifting restrictions around transit through the Strait of Hormuz, Axios said. The one-page, 14-point memorandum of understanding is being negotiated between U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner
and several Iranian officials, both directly and through mediators, the report said. In its current form, the memorandum would declare an end to the war
in the region and the start of a 30-day period of negotiations on a
detailed agreement to open the strait, limit Iran's nuclear program and
lift U.S. sanctions, Axios added.
Iran's restrictions on shipping through the strait and the U.S. naval blockade would be gradually lifted during that 30-day period, Axios said, citing one U.S. official who added that if the negotiations collapse, U.S. forces would be able to restore the blockade or resume military action. Iran said earlier on Wednesday it would accept a peace deal only if it was "fair," after President Donald Trump paused a three-day-old naval mission tasked with reopening the Strait of Hormuz that had shaken the war's month-old ceasefire. |
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