Tehran and Israel voice caveats on U.S.-Iran deal set for Friday signing

Iran’s official state-run news agency quoted the country’s vice president on Monday as saying the agreement reached with the U.S. was only “the first step,” and the next phase of negotiations will be more difficult.

Speaking at a meeting on post-war reconstruction, Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref praised the agreement reached between Tehran and Washington, but according to the IRNA news agency, he also warned “the more difficult task is a permanent agreement and peace, which will be achieved within 60 days.”

According to Iran and officials familiar with the negotiations who have spoken with BREAKING NEWS, the memorandum of understanding agreed by the U.S. and Iran includes a 60-day period of negotiations to begin upon its signing. 

That signing is expected on Friday, and the next two months would see the two sides get down to the more complicated work of directly negotiating over the future of Tehran’s nuclear enrichment program and other contentious issues.

At least one ship transited the Strait of Hormuz early on Monday, according to shipping data from MarineTraffic.com.

The Malta-flagged tanker had been in the Persian Gulf since the U.S. and Israel launched their joint war with Iran at the end of February, loaded with about 68,000 tons of cargo bound for India.

A second ship, the container vessel Kaiser, appeared positioned to transit the strait later in the day. The Kaiser departed Iraq’s Umm Qasr port on June 3.

“Based on @Kpler data, crossings still remaining limited while there are more than 500 commercial vessels that have given an AIS signal in the Persian Gulf during the last 24hrs,” the data firm’s media relations manager Nikos Pothitakis said Monday in a social media post.

Only three other vessels are known to have made the transit with their tracking systems switched on since Thursday. Before the war began, an average of 138 commercial ships would transit the strait per day.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has urged “maximum restraint” by all sides involved in the U.S.-Iran agreement that is expected to be signed later this week. In a speech delivered Monday, Türk also calls for the agreement to be implemented “quickly and in good faith.”

“I welcome the announcement that the United States and Iran have agreed on a peace deal that provides for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a framework for further negotiations,” Türk said, according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office. 

“The conflict has had a devastating impact on human rights across the region and around the world,” he said. “At this fragile moment, it is clear all sides need to exercise maximum restraint and work to implement this agreement quickly and in good faith.”

The Lebanese Army on Monday warned residents from southern towns who have evacuated during months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel not to return home yet.

In a social media statement, the Lebanese Army Command stressed “the need for residents to exercise caution and delay returning to villages and towns in the southern border area … in order to ensure their safety from the risk of Israeli violations and attacks.”

Israel’s defense minister said Monday that the country would not withdraw its forces from a vast swath of southern Lebanon they have effectively occupied for weeks under the U.S.-Iran deal.

The Israel Defense Forces did not announce any specific new operations against Hezbollah Monday, but Defense Minister Israel Katz noted in his statement that the area where Israeli forces are operating in southern Lebanon, “will be cleared of local residents and all terrorist infrastructure, above and below ground – including the houses in the contact villages that served as terrorist outposts – will be destroyed.”

Iran will still be able to charge fees for commercial vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz under the agreement reached with the U.S., a source quoted by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said Monday, contradicting U.S. officials’ characterization of the deal.

Fars said Iran would allow fee-free passage during the 60-day negotiation period initiated by the signing of the memorandum of understanding, but that transit charges could be applied after that period.

President Trump told The New York Times in an interview published Sunday that the agreement with Iran would ensure the Strait of Hormuz was “permanently toll-free.” 

According to the source quoted by Fars, U.S. negotiators accepted the principle of Iran charging fees for use of the strait in the future under a system that Iran and Oman, the two nations with coastlines in the watersway, would manage jointly.

Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps published on Monday a list of 14 points it said were included in the memorandum of understanding with the U.S., which is expected to be signed on Friday in Europe. That list includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days “under Iranian arrangements,” but it does not specify whether tolls would be charged. 

Neither U.S. nor Pakistani mediators have released the text of the agreement.

The Lebanese presidency welcomed the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, which is said to include a termination of all military operations across all fronts, including Israel’s fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In a statement released Monday, the presidency said “Lebanon hopes that this development will mark the beginning of a broader process that enhances stability in the region, preserves the sovereignty of states and the rights of their peoples, and allows the Lebanese to focus on rebuilding what has been destroyed and restoring their normal lives under a secure and stable state.”

Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps published on Monday a list of the 14 points it says are included in the memorandum of understanding with the U.S., which is expected to come into effect after it is signed on Friday.

According to the IRGC, the agreement includes:

1. Immediate and permanent cessation of war on all fronts, including Israel’s battle with Hezbollah in Lebanon
2. U.S. commitment not to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs and to respect the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic
3. Full lifting of the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and vessels within 30 days
4. U.S. commitment to withdraw forces from the region around Iran
5. Reopening of the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days under Iranian arrangements
6. Suspension of sanctions on the sale of Iranian oil, petrochemical products and derivatives, and full Iranian access to revenues
7. U.S. and its allies required to present reconstruction plans for Iran worth at least $300 billion
8. 60 days of negotiations to reach a final agreement on nuclear issues and the complete lifting of primary and secondary U.S. sanctions, as well as United Nations Security Council and IAEA Board of Governors resolutions
9. Iran’s reaffirmation of its commitment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty not to produce nuclear weapons
10. During the negotiation period, the U.S. commits not to increase its forces in the region and not to impose new sanctions
11. Release of $24 billion in frozen Iranian funds during the 60-day final negotiation period; half of this amount must be made available to Iran before final negotiations begin
12. Establishment of a monitoring mechanism to implement the agreement
13. Final agreement to be approved by a United Nations Security Council resolution
14. Discussions about Iran’s conventional missile program and support for resistance groups are explicitly excluded from the agenda.

Israeli officials said Monday that the country was not bound to withdraw forces from Lebanon or halt its fight with Hezbollah under the U.S.-Iran agreement.

On Friday, a senior Trump administration official told BREAKING NEWS that Iran would not receive any portion of the frozen financial assets until the country shows it is complying with the obligations made under the deal. That raises questions about timing given the IRGC’s claim that half of Iran’s seized funds are to be handed over before final negotiations begin during the 60-day period.

“If they turn over the nuclear material as promised, they get something. If they dismantle their nuclear programs or their nuclear facilities, they’ll get something else. If they really commit to regional peace and stability, they’ll get additional things on top of that,” the official said, warning against taking Iranian government and media statements at face value, calling them “domestic propaganda.”

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Monday that the agreement between the U.S. and Iran does not require Israel to stop its fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Trump’s agreement does not bind us… we are not party to this agreement. It does not safeguard our security,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on his Telegram channel.

“We must not settle for anything less than the dismantling of Hezbollah. We must not withdraw from a single inch of territory that our soldiers have captured and cleared of terrorist infrastructure,” he said.

Israel’s defense minister said Monday that Israeli forces will remain in Lebanon “indefinitely” and he opposes any withdrawal of forces from the southern parts of the country, where Israel and the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah have fought continuously since just after the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the government was “leading a clear policy that states that the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza – indefinitely – in order to protect the border and Israeli settlements from there against jihadist elements.”

The defense minister said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made President Trump aware of Israel’s intention to maintain a presence in southern Lebanon.

“If Iran attacks Israel due to the events in Lebanon – we will attack it with all our might and clearly demonstrate to it the power gaps,” Katz said in his statement.

Pakistan, a key mediator in the negotiations, said the agreement reached by the U.S. and Iran, included a termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

The United States and Iran are to hold indirect meetings in Doha this week ahead of the formal signing of a deal aimed at ending the Middle East war, a diplomat told AFP on Monday.

“Separate preparatory meetings with each side will now take place in Doha this week, ahead of the official signing in Switzerland and the start of the technical talks,” the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive arrangements.

President Donald Trump is headed to the French Alps on Monday to meet with fellow world leaders at the Group of Seven summit after announcing an agreement that he says will bring an end to the U.S. war with Iran.

With the agreement, Trump is due to arrive in Evian-les-Bains on Monday afternoon with some wind at his back for talks with G7 leaders, including some who have been sharply critical of his managing of the roughly 15-week conflict that has led to a surge in global energy prices.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Trump Israel won’t pull its troops from Lebanon and doesn’t consider itself obligated to go along with the Lebanon-related parts of the U.S. deal with Iran, Israeli news service Ynet reports, citing Israeli sources.

Ynet says Netanyahu also told Mr. Trump Israel will keep responding to attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah and hitting Hezbollah itself. 

Netanyahu received full backing for his positions from Israel’s cabinet, Ynet says.

Qatari mediators left Tehran after 17 hours of intensive negotiations that resulted in the announced deal, according to a diplomat briefed on developments. Separate preparatory meetings with each side are set to take place in Doha this week, ahead of the official signing in Switzerland and the start of the technical talks, the diplomat said.