Peace deal looms while Hormuz sees new flare ups

DUBAI/WASHINGTON: The United ​States and Iran signalled on Friday that an agreement to end their ​war was close, with a senior US administration official saying both sides had agreed on a text and that Washington expects to sign an initial deal in the coming days.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that while changes in the deal were still possible, the tentative agreement showed his country had emerged stronger from the conflict.
'Iran is the winner of the war with the US,' he said on state television.
Hours after those remarks, US forces shot down multiple Iranian one-way attack drones heading toward the Strait of Hormuz, a source familiar with the matter said. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the drones had posed a threat to commercial traffic.
Iranian news agencies had reported that explosions were heard along the strait in ⁠Iran's Sirik port and Qeshm island, which residents and local officials attributed to shots fired by Iranian forces to warn vessels attempting to cross the waterway without permission from the Revolutionary ⁠Guards' navy.
The proposed memorandum of understanding calls for reopening the strait and lifting the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, sources on all sides of the talks said. Negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme — US President Donald Trump's stated rationale for starting the war — would take place afterward.
The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that the deal met Trump's core objectives and put negotiations 'in a very, very good place.'
Accounts of the draft proposal from Western, Pakistani and Iranian sources pointed to ‌terms that could favour Iran, drawing criticism from Trump, who dismissed the reports as inaccurate.
While there were ​minor differences in the details, the proposals broadly offered Tehran ⁠much of what it has sought, with Trump appearing to secure little beyond the reopening of the strait, which Iran closed after the U.S. and Israel ​strikes in February.
'Our sword will always hang over the Strait of Hormuz,' he said.
A Western source said the deal could be signed as soon as Sunday by US Vice-President JD Vance and Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, ​with Geneva seen as the likeliest venue.
Araqchi said the deal would be signed remotely before it is announced.
The US administration official said Europe had been discussed as a venue for signing but no decision had been made.
Draft terms of the deal described to Reuters by multiple sources indicate the US would begin releasing billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on its oil exports, in return for Iran opening the strait.
Iran's nuclear programme would be addressed during a 60-day period of talks. The US official said the agreement would ultimately lead to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme, with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to ‌be destroyed and removed. The terms also include an inspection regime to ensure compliance over the long term.
But Araqchi told state television that Iran, which sources said has not accepted the dismantling of ​its nuclear programme, wanted to retain the uranium in diluted form. 'For Tehran, the only preferred solution for its highly enriched uranium stockpile is down-blending the material,” he said. — Reuters