Iran state TV reports draft ceasefire will see US withdraw troops, open Strait of Hormuz
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Iran’s state TV said it had received an unofficial draft of the first draft of a cooperation memorandum with the United States.
Under the framework, Iran will restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month, while the United States will withdraw military forces from Iranian territory and lift the military blockade.
State TV said the draft, which excludes warships and assumes Iran controls shipping across the strait in cooperation with Oman, has not been finalized and that Tehran will not take action without “concrete confirmation.”
It added that if a final agreement is reached within 60 days, it can be ratified as a binding resolution of the UN Security Council.
Traffic on the road, which normally carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas trade, has been at about normal levels since the war began.
It is not yet clear whether Iran’s understanding of the draft is consistent with that of the White House. US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with his cabinet on Wednesday morning.
The founding director of the Munk School, Janice Stein, says that the US-Israeli war with Iran is an unfortunate situation, with neither side’s objective being achieved.
The emerging US-Iran memorandum stems from indirect talks that began after the war that began in February, with Pakistan playing a central mediating role between Tehran and Washington.
The war began on Feb. 28 with the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran and disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, raising energy prices, and straining global supply chains.
The state media coverage comes a day after Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the US had violated a ceasefire agreement on strike targets near the disputed Strait of Hormuz.
In further peace efforts, Israel bombarded Lebanon with more than 120 airstrikes on Tuesday in one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks, Lebanese security sources said. Iran has demanded an end to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon as part of any deal.
Trump has said his main goal in the war is to prevent Iran from developing a highly enriched uranium nuclear weapon, but talks on Iran’s uranium stockpile do not appear imminent. Trump last year said that strikes carried out by Israel over a 12-day period had “destroyed” Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
The final agreement on the nuclear program – struck in 2015 and torn up by Trump in 2018 – took years of negotiations between major groups of technologists.
Several Republicans in Congress have disputed in recent days what they have seen reported about the draft deal, saying Iran will continue to be a disruptive and dangerous force in the Middle East.
