DUBAI/WASHINGTON: U.S. and Pakistani leaders forecast a Sunday signing of a long-elusive framework agreement to end months of fighting between the United States and Iran, but Tehran cast doubt over the timing and hardline protesters in Iran voiced opposition.
President Donald Trump posted that the deal with Iran was scheduled to be signed on Sunday, his 80th birthday. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad was preparing for an electronic signing, to be followed by technical-level talks in the coming week.
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, speaking before Trump's post, was quoted by state media as saying on Saturday it would "not be tomorrow" but could happen "in the coming days."
Iran's Fars news agency citing an informed source said on Sunday that Tehran has not yet taken a final decision on the framework agreement, with reviews of its political, legal and technical aspects still ongoing at expert and decision-making levels.
Qatari negotiators flew to Tehran on Sunday morning as part of an effort to finalize the agreement, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
U.S. FOCUSES ON OPENING STRAIT, CLASHES CONTINUE
Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier that after a framework deal is signed, the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil supplies that Iran has blocked, would immediately be "open to all."
Once the strait reopens, the U.S. would lift its naval blockade, sources on all sides of the talks said. Negotiations over Iran's nuclear program - a key rationale Trump has given for the war - would take place afterwards.
While U.S. and Israeli bombings since February 28 have heavily degraded Iran's military-industrial base and damaged its military, experts say the war has only entrenched the dominance of the hardline Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
When the U.S. and Israel launched the war, Trump called on Iranians to rise up and take over state institutions.
Even as the U.S. and Iran appeared to be moving toward an agreement over the past few days, clashes have continued, as the U.S. military maintains a blockade on Iran and seeks to loosen Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, which was the conduit for 20% of the world's oil shipments before the war.
Early on Saturday, U.S. forces shot down multiple Iranian drones heading toward the strait, the U.S. military said.
Israel, which says it is not a party to the U.S.-Iran deal, said on Saturday that it had struck more than 70 sites over a 24-hour period in Lebanon against Iranian ally Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clashed with Trump over U.S. demands that Israel curb military action in Lebanon to allow Washington to reach a deal with Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that while changes in the deal were still possible, the tentative agreement showed his country had emerged stronger from the conflict.
NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS TO COME LATER
At pro-government rallies held across Iran on Saturday night, residents and news agencies reported that hardliners opposed to the framework agreement loudly voiced their dissatisfaction.
A resident in the northeastern city of Mashhad told Reuters that some protesters chanted: "Death to the compromiser," in an apparent reference to Araqchi. "Compromiser, resign, resign."
Draft terms of the agreement described to Reuters by multiple sources indicate the U.S. would begin releasing billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on its oil exports, in return for Iran opening the strait.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the release of the frozen assets was an integral part of the agreement and that Tehran would have to charge for services in the strait, Fars news agency reported.
But a U.S. official said, "Iran is going to open up the Strait of Hormuz, that's a requirement. It could be open with no tolls. As they do that, we will lift our blockade." Next would come de-mining of the waterway, the official told reporters, indicating countries in the Group of Seven major powers could have a role in this.
Baghaei said foreign military bases in the region must end, Fars reported, without providing details.
Iran's nuclear program would be addressed during a 60-day period of talks. A U.S. official said the agreement would ultimately lead to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program, with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be destroyed and removed.
Foreign Minister Araqchi has said Iran's preferred position is that its enriched uranium should be diluted and kept in the country.
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