Lack of Details on the Iran Peace Agreement Leaves Questions on Lebanon and Strait of Hormuz

As America and Iran prepare to formally sign a memorandum of understanding to end fighting, the actual points of the deal remain under wraps with both sides giving differing accounts of the agreement.The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said the interim peace deal would be signed on Friday at Bürgenstock, near Lake Lucerne. “Switzerland is acting as a facilitator in this process, creating the practical and diplomatic conditions necessary for this meeting to take place on Swiss territory,” the department said in a statement.President Trump on Tuesday told reporters at the Group of Seven summit at Evian-les-Bains in France that he hasn’t released the agreement because he wanted to get “a formal setting first” but said it was “about 99.9 percent of what I wanted.”Mr. Trump said the memorandum includes a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz with no tolls — permanently. The messaging out of Tehran appears to contradict that. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has announced a “Persian Gulf Strait Authority” and says it plans to control and restrict freedom of navigation through the waters. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux told the Associated Press that among the topics the G7 leaders are discussing is how to change supply routes so less of the world oil supply will depend on the strait.America will allow Iran to immediately sell oil and fuel under the agreement, the Wall Street Journal reported. Crude and natural gas exports historically account for about 25 percent of Iran’s revenue, the nonprofit anti-regime organization Against Nuclear Iran reported.Iran’s oil exports fell 90 percent in May, due to the American naval blockade, to less than 65 thousand barrels per day compared to well over a million barrels a day before the war.There is resistance from lawmakers in Washington and the Israeli leadership to giving financial benefits right away to Tehran without a firm deal finalized on Iran’s nuclear program. Some congressional Republicans said it was hard to take a position on the deal when they have not seen it. “If it’s a secret deal then how can I take it seriously?” asked Senator Thom Tillis.An Israeli official expressed disappointment that the memorandum of understanding between America and Iran apparently has provisions related to Lebanon. Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, said Lebanon is “part and parcel” to the overall agreement and it requires an Israeli withdrawal. “The end of the war will be the end of occupation,” Mr. Araghchi told reporters.Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter told NPR that Israeli forces would not withdraw. “We remain in South Lebanon to protect the people of Israel, like any other self-respecting country would,” Mr. Leiter said in an X post.A Trump administration official, who was allowed to brief reporters on the agreement previously said there was no provision in the agreement for an Israeli withdrawal.The Associated Press reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not even seen the agreement by Tuesday evening. “With an agreement, without an agreement – as long as I am the Prime Minister of Israel, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” Mr. Netanyahu said in an X post.

Lack of Details on the Iran Peace Agreement Leaves Questions on Lebanon and Strait of Hormuz

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