by Andrew Bernard
A senior U.S. official read aloud the text of the Trump administration’s deal with Iran in a call with reporters, revealing the full text for the first time.
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The Trump administration revealed the full text of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran on Wednesday, including requirements that Iran downblend its enriched uranium stockpiles under the International Atomic Energy Agency’s supervision and more detail on the sequencing of sanctions relief.
Speaking to reporters on background, a pair of senior U.S. officials read the 14-paragraph agreement aloud and provided commentary on its major provisions.
The text differs in substantial ways from versions previously reported by outlets including CNN, Bloomberg and Al-Arabiya, with additional details about what Iran is required to do within 60 days as part of the deal regarding the Strait of Hormuz and its nuclear stockpile.
“Upon the signing of this MOU, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels, with no charge, for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa,” the official said, reading from the text.
Previously reported versions of the text did not make clear that Iran would be barred from charging a toll or fee for passage through the vital shipping lane.
Commenting on the provision, the official said that a subsequent provision requiring dialogue with other Persian Gulf States would foreclose the possibility of Iran charging a toll on global energy supplies.
“The Persian Gulf states will never reach an arrangement that doesn’t permit toll-free access to the Strait of Hormuz for themselves and their industries,” the official said.
The senior officials said that there has been no change to the text since the United States and Iran agreed to it on Sunday and that it had not previously been released at Iran’s request.
The text the official read to reporters also includes concessions on Iran’s nuclear program.
“The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpiled enriched material, pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon in accordance with the schedule mentioned in paragraph seven, with the minimum methodology to be downblending on site under the supervision of the IAEA,” the official read from paragraph eight of the text.
Paragraph seven addresses sanctions relief, and says the United States will “terminate all types of sanctions” against Iran “in an agreed-upon schedule as part of the final deal.”
The two sides are expected to begin negotiations on the “final deal” during the 60-day window of the MOU.
Large portions of the text are similar or identical to previously reported versions. What the deal does and does not include will likely continue to prompt criticism from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, as well as Israeli officials.
The deal makes no mention of Iran’s ballistic missile or drone capabilities and links the cessation of hostilities between the United States and Iran with the Israeli conflict against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies in the current war, by signing this MOU, declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” the text says, according to the official.
Commenting on the text, the officials also clarified what forms of sanctions relief Iran could expect under paragraphs seven and eight of the deal.
“It commits us to quite literally nothing,” one of the officials said. “When I see the media saying that they’re going to get all this sanctions relief, the sanctions relief in seven is tied to the nuclear settlement in eight.”
“We are saying the sanctions relief and the nuclear issues are connected, and to the extent that you perform on the nuclear questions, you will get the sanctions relief,” the official said.
The two sides are expected to sign the deal on Friday.
Andrew Bernard
Source: https://www.jns.org/news/u-s-news/senior-us-official-reveals-text-of-iran-mou-for-first-time
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