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The potential memorandum of understanding emerged just as tensions in the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran showed signs of escalation.
Recent hostilities erupted when Kuwait intercepted missiles launched from Iran, as reported by the United States Central Command, a mere day prior.
An official, who shared details about the preliminary agreement while requesting anonymity due to the lack of authorization to speak publicly, emphasized the tentative nature of the accord.
Another U.S. official, also speaking under the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations, mentioned that while a basic framework for an agreement has been established, it remains contingent upon President Trump’s approval.
The official highlighted uncertainties about whether President Trump will ultimately endorse the proposed agreement.
Details of the tentative pact were first reported by the news outlet Axios.
Kuwait had earlier announced an attack on its territory, and Iran said it had retaliated for strikes earlier in the week by firing on a US base in an Gulf state it did not name. The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry condemned Iran for what it called “blatant aggression,” and US Central Command called the attack on one of America’s top allies in the Persian Gulf an “egregious ceasefire violation.”
The exchange unfolded after US officials said late on Wednesday in Washington that American forces launched more strikes on Iran, shooting down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz and hitting an Iranian ground-control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.
Washington and Tehran have repeatedly accused each other of violating the seven-week ceasefire and have traded strikes throughout the week. But they have not returned to full-scale hostilities and have kept negotiating. Trump has insisted he’s confident that his administration is making headway in the talks.
On Monday, the US said it conducted what the Pentagon called “self-defence” strikes on missile launch sites and minelaying boats in southern Iran.
After the latest American strikes, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged the attack around Bandar Abbas International Airport. The Iranian force said via the state-run IRNA news agency that it launched a retaliatory attack on the air base that launched the assaults, without specifying whether the retaliation targeted Kuwait, which is home to US Army Central’s forward headquarters, air bases and a naval base.
Kuwait’s military announced that its air-defence systems intercepted incoming missiles and drones on Thursday, without detailing what had been targeted. Kuwait repeatedly came under fire from Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq before the April ceasefire began.
The announcement comes as the Middle East is on the edge and talks to end the war remain in flux.
Trump is looking for an agreement that will reopen the strait, through which about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas once passed. He also is seeking to get Iran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The war has been unpopular in the US, and Iran’s closure of the strait has sent oil prices skyrocketing, driving up fuel prices around the world.
The Islamic Republic wants economic sanctions to be lifted and frozen assets to be released to aid its shattered economy. Iran also insists that any deal must include an end to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.
A US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in Lebanon in mid-April, and Lebanese and Israeli military officials are set to hold their first security talks on Friday in Washington.
But the ceasefire has been tested, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that his country was stepping up attacks after Hezbollah fired fiber-optic exploding drones that struck Israeli troops in Lebanon and reached some of Israel’s northern border towns.
Tensions deepened on Thursday as Israel conducted an airstrike on a southern suburb of the capital, Beirut, and other strikes in the southern coastal city of Tyre. At least 14 people were killed across the country’s south.