US, Iran Sign Initial Deal to End War  06/18 06:10

   President Donald Trump signed an agreement with Iran on Wednesday that calls 
for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and waives 
U.S.-backed sanctions on the country, immediately allowing Iran to sell its oil 
freely in a major concession from Washington, according to details released by 
both countries.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump signed an agreement with Iran on 
Wednesday that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched 
uranium and waives U.S.-backed sanctions on the country, immediately allowing 
Iran to sell its oil freely in a major concession from Washington, according to 
details released by both countries.

   The initial deal to end the war takes "immediate effect" after leaders from 
both countries signed it, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who helped 
mediate the agreement, said online.

   The agreement calls for a permanent end to hostilities and starts a 60-day 
negotiating clock to reach a final deal on the future of Iran's nuclear 
program, though Trump left the door open to resume attacks. It appears to offer 
Iran several benefits up front while extracting little in return.

   The deal has been shrouded in secrecy and confusion for days. U.S. officials 
refused to disclose the terms even after saying Trump and Vice President JD 
Vance digitally signed it over the weekend. Trump signed a physical copy 
Wednesday while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron at Versailles, the 
palace where many historic agreements have been signed over the centuries, 
ending wars or territorial disputes.

   The White House had planned a signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland, but 
its fate is now uncertain, with conflicting information from the U.S., Iran and 
Pakistan.

   "It's signed," Trump said as he left the dinner at Versailles, which 
followed his trip to the Group of Seven summit in France.

   In a video posted online by a White House aide, Trump was seen seated at a 
table next to Macron signing a paper copy of the agreement. Trump then handed 
the document and pen to Secretary of State Marco Rubio as people in the room 
applauded.

   "This was not easy," Trump said right before he signed it, according to a 
video posted to social media by Macron.

   In Tehran, a stone-faced President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the deal on 
behalf of Iran, according to the state-run IRNA news agency, which posted an 
image of him holding up the deal with his signature and Trump's.

   Text of the agreement still has not been formally released by the Americans. 
U.S. officials dictated draft language to journalists after days of secrecy, 
speaking on condition of anonymity. Iranian state media has released text that 
largely tracked what the U.S. put out.

   The deal will stop the fighting and start more negotiations

   Much of the agreement would restore the status quo before the war, including 
ending hostilities, restarting talks between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's 
nuclear program, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial passage for 
the world's oil and natural gas whose closure created a historic energy crisis.

   The agreement opens the strait without tolls for two months, but does not 
preclude fees in the future, according to the drafts from both countries.

   In return, the U.S. will move to waive, but not eliminate, some wide-ranging 
sanctions against Iran.

   The deal also affirms a commitment to Lebanon's territorial integrity in the 
face of Israel's invasion against the Hezbollah militant group. That is one of 
the most delicate parts of the agreement because Israel has maintained it will 
continue to defend itself and to occupy vast swaths of Lebanon. Iran has said 
Israel must withdraw under the deal, a condition Israel has already rejected.

   The U.S. and Israel went to war Feb. 28 in part to prevent Iran from ever 
getting a nuclear weapon. Trump has cited various goals for the war, including 
at times vowing it would end Iran's nuclear and missile programs and its 
support for Hezbollah and other proxy groups. He also suggested it could lead 
to toppling the Iranian government.

   The interim deal falls short of all those goals, but Trump hailed it as 
"very strong."

   He also opened the door to abandoning it: "It's a memorandum of 
understanding, and if I don't like it, we'll go back to shooting at them, 
dropping bombs."

   The U.S. agreement to immediately allow Iran to sell its oil freely and the 
offer to eventually lift all sanctions are major concessions that go beyond the 
terms of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Trump withdrew America 
from that Obama-era pact in his first term, declaring it the "worst deal ever."

   Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, though it is the only 
country to enrich uranium to 60% purity without a weapons program, according to 
the International Atomic Energy Agency. The interim deal calls for the IAEA to 
monitor the "downblending" of that uranium in Iran, without elaborating.

   The accord likely will draw intense opposition in Washington, and it appears 
to be a major setback for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has 
come under criticism at home from the media, his opponents and even some allies 
as details emerge.

   Under the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran that Trump pulled out of, 
Iran also agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program and promised never to 
build an atomic weapon in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

   Major concessions have been offered to Iran

   Some concessions to Iran -- including the full lifting of sanctions and the 
release of frozen assets -- would happen gradually and be linked to progress in 
the nuclear talks, according to Pakistani officials. They outlined some of the 
deal's major points on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the 
issue.

   But in the meantime, the U.S. will issue waivers to sanctions that allow 
Iran to sell oil freely.

   The Islamic Republic's oil export revenues in 2024 were more than $46 
billion. Its main buyer of oil, China, is believed to have bought at 
below-market prices because of its willingness to ignore the sanctions.

   Granting oil waivers at the start of the 60-day talks strips the U.S. of a 
major point of leverage. Only at the conclusion of the overall deal in 2015 
were sanctions on Iran's oil lifted.

   The interim deal also opens the door to ending all sanctions Iran faces from 
the U.S. and at the U.N. -- including those over Tehran's weapons programs and 
human rights abuses -- though it says the schedule for that will be worked out 
later. Still, that far surpasses the 2015 deal, which only lifted some 
sanctions in exchange for Iran drastically reducing its enrichment and 
stockpile of uranium.

   The accord would also provide Iran with at least $300 billion to rebuild -- 
an extraordinary figure and another major benefit for Iran. The money also 
appears dependent on the progress of further negotiations.

   Vance has said Gulf Arab nations would invest that amount. But Gulf 
countries would likely be reluctant to help Iran after Iranian attacks in the 
war destroyed oil facilities and other sites in their territory.

   Trump reiterated Wednesday that the U.S. would not contribute and said it 
was up to other countries if they wanted to invest.

   The pact would provide relief to the global economy

   The initial deal provides a major win for the global economy -- the 
reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through 
which a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas once passed before the war 
began. Since then, Iranian attacks on shipping and the threat to vessels 
effectively shut the strait.

   The strait's closure drove up energy prices around the world and made many 
basics, including food, more expensive. Iran let through some vessels that paid 
tolls, something never done before in the strait, which has long been 
considered an international waterway. The U.S. later provided military support 
to get other tankers out, but traffic was nowhere near levels before the war.

   The deal also says the U.S. will lift a blockade imposed on Iranian ports 
and that the strait will return to its prewar traffic levels in 30 days, while 
acknowledging Iranian mines may need to be destroyed.