Iranian state media said on Friday that Tehran will not give up sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz under the draft memorandum of understanding being worked on with the United States, and will hold on to what it considers its rights in the nuclear file in any negotiations.
This came after Tehran announced on Friday that it had not yet made a decision regarding the agreement announced by US President Donald Trump to end the war in the Middle East, and his talk about the possibility of signing it as early as the end of this week.
The official IRNA news agency reported that “the outlines of this text” are being finalized, but stressed that “Iran does not make any commitment in this text to relinquish control of the Strait or return to the conditions that preceded the American-Israeli military aggression.”
Iran has effectively closed the vital strait for oil and gas supplies since the start of the attack on it on February 28. It had previously insisted that, under any agreement to end the war, navigation through the strait must remain under its direct supervision, in coordination with Oman, which lies on the opposite side of the strait.
Meanwhile, the Iranian news agency Mehr published what it said was a 14-point draft of the memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington.
Mehr reported that the memorandum includes “an immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon.”
She added that she is giving “60 days for negotiations with the aim of reaching an agreement on nuclear issues and the complete lifting of primary and secondary US sanctions.”
For its part, IRNA noted that Iran will uphold its rights in the nuclear field in any negotiations with the United States. It stated, "Iran will negotiate its nuclear program exclusively within the framework of the Islamic Republic's fundamental rights, and issues such as Iran's right to enrich uranium and retain enriched materials... will be emphasized, with efforts focused on including them in the final agreement."
The draft published by Mehr also noted the release of $24 billion of frozen assets belonging to the Islamic Republic.
Mehr reported that the memorandum allows for “the release of $24 billion of Iran’s frozen assets within a 60-day period to negotiate the final agreement,” adding that half of this amount “will become available to Iran before the start of negotiations” on the final agreement.
This comes a day after US President Donald Trump announced that an agreement had been reached with Iran, while the latter confirmed that it had not yet decided on its position regarding it.
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that he and Donald Trump were “in complete agreement” on the need to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Netanyahu issued a statement saying, “As long as I am Prime Minister of Israel, Iran will not acquire nuclear weapons. President Trump and I are in complete agreement on this issue.”
Trump said on Thursday that a “great deal” had been reached with Iran, indicating that an agreement could be signed with them in Europe in the coming days, “once the documents are finalized.”
In this context, Bloomberg News reported that “Geneva, Switzerland is a possible location for signing the agreement soon, possibly on Sunday.”
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said he would not attend the signing ceremony, which he confirmed would take place with his deputy, JD Vance, in attendance.
He added, “The Strait of Hormuz will officially open as soon as we sign the agreement, which could happen very soon… perhaps at the beginning of the week in Europe.”
Trump indicated that the US military operation he had threatened on Kharg Island was no longer on the table at the moment.
He explained that he had just held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and had also spoken with the leaders of Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others. He added that he would soon speak with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He indicated that the agreement had resolved the issue of Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.
He said, “The most important thing is that we have an agreement that guarantees that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the primary goal of all our efforts to reach this agreement. So, this was a great achievement.”
When asked by a reporter at the White House whether Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had approved the agreement, Trump said, “I think the answer is yes.”
Trump announced on Thursday that he had postponed new military attacks on Iran, hours after threatening to escalate the three-month-old war.
The US president said in a social media post that he took this step “based on the fact that talks with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been raised to the highest level of the Iranian leadership and approved.”
Trump also indicated that progress had been made in talks to extend the fragile ceasefire, writing that “discussions and final points have been agreed upon, in concept and in great detail,” by the United States, Israel, and other regional allies. He did not provide details.
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