What the US and Iran agreed – and disagreed – on first day of talks
Leaders from Iran and the US have lauded progress in the talks and say the agreement so far benefits both sides. But they disagree on
Leaders from Iran and the US have lauded progress in the talks and say the agreement so far benefits both sides. But they disagree on crucial aspects. The United States has waived sanctions on Iranian oil for 60 days following the first day of talks for a peace deal, with US President Donald Trump saying he will “do what I have to do” if Iran does not stick to its side of the agreement. Direct talks between the US and Iran were triggered by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two sides last week. The parties have also established “a communication line” regarding the Strait of Hormuz to “avoid incidents and miscommunication with the aim of safe passage for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz”. Iran closed the strait, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is shipped in peacetime, after US-Israeli attacks began at the end of February. This caused shockwaves through global energy markets, and the price of oil spiked. A joint statement released by mediators Qatar and Pakistan on Monday said: “Chief negotiators will report regularly to the High Level Committee and lead working groups focused on nuclear, sanctions, and a monitoring and dispute resolution group to ensure the effective implementation of the MoU, and on other matters.” But, besides sanctions relief, the two sides appear to disagree on what else they had agreed on. On Tuesday, Iranian state media reported that the US had also agreed to release $12bn of frozen Iranian assets, but Washington has not confirmed this. And, while US Vice President JD Vance stated on Monday that Iran would allow international nuclear inspectors back into the country, Iran denied this on Tuesday. Several other major sticking points to a peace deal have yet to be negotiated, including the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and the specifics of the sanctions relief. In this explainer, we break down what each side has said about ongoing talks so far – and what they are disagreeing about. Will the US release frozen Iranian assets? On Monday, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said an agreement had been reached with the US to release $12bn in frozen Iranian funds. But Vance said only that if Iranian assets are unfrozen, they will be used by Iran to buy US agricultural products.
“They’re going to go to make American farmers richer and feed the Iranian people,” he said. “We’re doing very well in terms of negotiating a fair and reasonable deal. One of the things that we are doing also, and it came up last night, is money that’s being unfrozen is going to be used to buy food, and the food’s going to be bought exclusively through the United States from our farmers,” Trump emphasised on Monday. “And corn, soybeans, all of the things they need are going to be bought from our farmers. So our farmers are very happy. I’ve had a lot of calls; they were very happy about this.” On Tuesday, he added in a Truth Social post: “The Money and/or Sanctions that the U.S. Treasury is releasing goes into escrow, controlled by the U.S.A., and will be used for the purchase of food and medical supplies, exclusively from the United States, including Corn, Wheat, and Soybeans from our great American Farmers. These are things that are desperately needed by Iran. This is a humanitarian crisis, and I feel it is necessary to help, NOW, before it is too late. Talks are going well! Thank you for your attention to this matter.” However, on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei dismissed reports that Iran would be forced to buy US foodstuffs, saying the assets “will be released and will be employed with absolute liberty by Iran in order to purchase whatever goods or commodities needed by the nation”. What sanctions will be lifted on Iran? So far, the US has waived sanctions on Iranian oil for 60 days, freeing up an estimated 67 million barrels of oil currently being stored on boats and tankers in the Gulf. The Chinese state and independent refineries are the biggest buyers of this oil. On Tuesday, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva reported good progress in talks. “Our colleagues continue to discuss in very good talks yesterday at technical level,” said Ali Bahreini, adding that two working groups will be established within the coming days to discuss the removal of sanctions against Iran and issues related to Iranian nuclear activities. Iran is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world, having been subject to US sanctions for decades. The lifting of some of these under the 2015 nuclear agreement was reversed when Trump walked out of the landmark deal.
The BriefWire