DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran will immediately take steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz once a tentative deal with the U.S. to end the war is signed and will be allowed to sell its oil without restrictions, according to leaked copies of an interim agreement that officials say broadly matches the document. The accord, due to be signed in Switzerland on Friday, also envisions Iran receiving at least $300 billion to rebuild after the war and says the U.S. would work to end all American and United Nations sanctions imposed on Tehran — if a final agreement addressing Iran’s nuclear program is reached.The U.S. and Israel went to war on Feb. 28 in part to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon — although U.S. President Donald Trump’s goals in the conflict have repeatedly shifted. The interim deal stops the war before that aim is secured — instead opening a two-month period for nuclear negotiations — and appears to offer Iran several benefits up front while extracting little in return.
The U.S. agreement to immediately allow Iran to sell its oil freely and the offer to eventually lift all sanctions, for instance, represent major concessions that outstrip the terms of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that Trump withdrew America from in his first term, declaring it the “worst deal ever.” The accord likely will draw intense criticism in Washington — and appears to be a major setback for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is coming under intense criticism at home as the details emerge.
