President Trump said he had called off new attacks on Iran and that a peace agreement could be signed this weekend. A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said, “Nothing has been finalized.” Share full articleImagePresident Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday.Credit...Eric Lee for The New York Times See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Latest PinnedJonathan SwanEric Schmitt and Qasim Nauman Here’s the latest.A tense calm gripped the Persian Gulf on Friday after President Trump said he had called off more U.S. strikes on Iran and claimed that a peace deal was “in pretty final shape.” Iran offered no public confirmation of such progress, with its foreign ministry spokesman saying that “nothing has been finalized,” according to the state broadcaster. The conflicting statements capped a dizzying day in the war that began with another exchange of U.S.-Iranian strikes, followed by Mr. Trump warning that he would hit Iran again “VERY HARD,” only to walk that back hours later. The president has alternated between bellicose threats and unfulfilled promises of a deal as he grasps for an end to a war that is in its fourth month and increasingly unpopular among his supporters. After a week of tit-for-tat U.S.-Iran attacks, it was unclear whether Mr. Trump’s latest comments were a pressure tactic or reflected real diplomatic progress. He said on Thursday afternoon that a deal could be signed “maybe over the weekend, in Europe,” and that, if so, Vice President JD Vance would take part. The president said it included an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping lane that Tehran has all but closed in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli strikes that began the war on Feb. 28. Mr. Trump said that the nuclear issues that have been a major sticking point in the talks were still being discussed “conceptually.” Israel is not directly involved in the U.S.-Iran negotiations, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement late Thursday that he had spoken with Mr. Trump and “expressed his appreciation” that any final deal would include restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. The statement referred to a “memorandum of understanding being finalized with Iran,” though it did not give details. Lebanon: Israeli airstrikes continued in southern Lebanon on Friday, as the long-running conflict with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, showed few signs of letting up. Strait of Hormuz: The U.S. military downed two Iranian drones trying to attack commercial ships in the strait, a senior American official said late Thursday. Roughly 11,000 sailors and over 500 ships are still stranded in the Persian Gulf. IRNA also says that the draft agreement includes Lebanon as part of any permanent end to the fighting and does not cover Iran’s nuclear program, which would instead be the subject of talks within a 60-day period after a deal is signed. Those talks would also include the lifting of U.S. sanctions and a “compensation mechanism” for damage inflicted on Iran during the war, but Iran’s missile program would not be on the agenda, it says. Under the draft agreement, part of Iran’s frozen assets would be immediately released after signing, and the rest would be gradually released during negotiations, according to IRNA. IRNA, an Iranian state media outlet, has been reporting what it says are details of a draft cease-fire agreement being reviewed by Iranian leaders. It says that Iran “makes no commitment regarding transferring control of the Strait of Hormuz,” referring to the waterway that Iran has in effect closed since the early days of the war. The strait — whose reopening is a key U.S. demand — would be handled “as a regional matter through dialogue and joint decision-making between Tehran and Oman,” IRNA reports. Last month, it emerged that Oman had discussed partnering with Iran to charge service fees for ships to pass through the strait, ignoring Trump administration warnings against such a plan. Neither the United States nor Iran has commented publicly on the details of the proposal. Israeli airstrikes continued in southern Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese state-run news agency reported, as the long-running conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants showed few signs of letting up despite Trump’s claims of diplomatic progress with Iran. For weeks, Tehran has demanded that any peace deal with the United States include an end to the fighting in Lebanon. While it remains unclear whether such an agreement is close, Israel has sought to keep the two conflicts separate and to maintain latitude to attack Hezbollah. Amid mixed signals over a possible agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has said the key shipping lane is closed to all maritime traffic, which the United States has denied. The U.S. military shot down two Iranian drones trying to attack commercial ships in the strait, a senior U.S. official said late Thursday. Israel is not directly involved in the U.S.-Iran talks, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel spoke with President Trump on Thursday about an “emerging memorandum of understanding” involving the United States and Iran, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office. The statement said that the Israeli leader had “expressed his appreciation” for Trump’s commitment that a final agreement with Iran will stipulate the removal of Iran’s nuclear materials, dismantling of uranium enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production and cessation of support for regional proxies. It was not clear if those provisions — which mirror Israel’s stated goals for its military campaign against Iran — were part of any deal being discussed, or whether Iran would agree to them. Whipsawed between fear and relief, Iranians hope for the war’s end.ImageTehran on Monday.Credit...Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York TimesFor days, Iranians have gone to bed hearing the sounds of explosions or reports that their country and the United States were trading fire. And then they have awakened to news that the attacks had concluded and negotiations for a peace deal were still ongoing. On Thursday, the pendulum again swung wildly — within a few hours. First, President Trump threatened to hit Iran “VERY HARD” and take over Kharg Island, Iran’s oil export hub. Then he abruptly canceled attacks because, he said, progress had been made in peace negotiations. Between the president’s two statements, Tehran’s armed forces had threatened retaliation against energy infrastructure in the region if attacked. For ordinary Iranians, the constant vacillation between fear and relief, anxiety and hope, has been emotionally taxing. In phone interviews and text messages, some said that they just wanted the war to end, one way or another. “They go to war at night, they stop the war by morning, it’s all ridiculous,” said Vahid, a 37-year-old resident of Tehran who, like most ordinary Iranians interviewed, asked that his last name not be used for fear of retribution. Streams of people flowed out of Tehran, the capital, on Thursday in reaction to Mr. Trump’s threats. The three main roads leading north out of the city toward the coasts of the Caspian Sea were jammed with traffic, the deputy police chief told local news media. Reza, a 48-year-old manager of a company, and his wife decided to take a weekend trip to the north and wait out the latest wave of tensions, he said in a phone interview. He said they worried the United States could strike civilian infrastructure, a concern fueled by a recent strike in the south, which destroyed a facility that a New York Times analysis found appeared to be for drinking water. “Work is very slow, businesses are paralyzed because of fluctuating prices, it feels like our life is on hold right now,” said Reza. In addition to concerns about their safety in the event of another all-out war, Iranians who were interviewed said they worried the economy would further collapse if the conflict remained in limbo. They say that if tit-for-tat strikes become the norm and the naval blockade against Iran’s ports continues, daily life will become even harder. In his post calling off planned strikes, Mr. Trump said the blockade would “remain in full force and effect” until a deal was reached. Mahasti, a 65-year-old resident of Tehran working in the health sector, said that was as bad as bombs being dropped, because the disruptions to trade and the curtailing of Iran’s oil revenues were slowly deteriorating many Iranians’ quality of life. “Our lives are just getting more and more difficult by the day,” she said. “If it’s not war, it’s sanctions or blockade, always something.” Some took to social media to vent. Iman Vaghefi, a sociologist in Tehran, wrote on social media after the news of Wednesday night’s attacks that he had lived in a state of “anxiety and suspense” for the past six months. “Another night of terror and dread from the assault and explosion,” he said. President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged the status quo was not tenable in a speech at a ceremony commemorating the late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “We must get out of this no war, no peace situation. War is definitely not to the benefit of the country,” he said, adding, however, that military aggression would not make Iran surrender. Adding to Iranians’ confusion, Mr. Trump on Thursday afternoon claimed, once again, that a deal was close, saying it could be signed “maybe over the weekend, in Europe.” The spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said Tehran had not yet reached “a final conclusion about the agreement,” according to Iran’s state broadcaster. Shortly after President Trump said that Iran’s top leadership had signed off on a deal, Iran’s state broadcaster, quoting the spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said those claims were “speculative.” Iran had not reached a final decision about the agreement, the broadcaster reported, adding, “Nothing has been finalized.” The report said Iran would not compromise on its red lines. Previously those have included its ability to maintain a nuclear program. Trump asserted that the U.S. military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would end “immediately” upon signing of the memorandum of understanding. But Trump refused to give a deadline for how long he would allow Iran to have to sign a detailed nuclear agreement.
Original Source: NYTimes
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