Strait of Hormuz, nuclear stockpile: Two sticking points in Iran-US talks explained | Today’s news
The reopening of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear stockpile are key sticking points in the ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran.
Iran and the US are reportedly close to an agreement to formalize a ceasefire and open the Strait of Hormuz, pending US President Donald Trump’s approval.
Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted that any deal would have to meet US President Donald Trump’s demands that Iran give up highly enriched uranium and allow free navigation through the strait.
“It is a multilateral deal and nothing will be on the table until we see the Strait of Hormuz open and the Iranians agree that they have to hand over highly enriched uranium and that they cannot have a nuclear program,” Bessent said on Thursday, according to ANI.
A temporary agreement was reached
Several reports cited U.S. officials as saying Thursday that U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative agreement on Thursday to extend a ceasefire in the 3-month-old war by 60 days and open a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
The proposed MoU is designed to serve as a bridge to bring the two nations to the negotiating table to resolve the ongoing crisis in West Asia. While officials on both sides noted that most of the terms had been settled by Tuesday, the final hurdle remains top management’s blessing.
Later, US Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that the US and Iran were “not there yet” on the original deal, which would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz, extended the ceasefire and deepened negotiations on contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.
But he said Washington and Tehran were “very close” to agreeing a deal to extend their ceasefire in the Middle East war, but a potential breakthrough still hung on President Donald Trump’s approval.
“It’s hard to say exactly when or if the president will sign the memorandum of understanding,” Vance told reporters, adding, “We’re going back and forth on several points of language. We’ve made a lot of progress here.”
Here we explain why Iran and the US are deadlocked on these issues:
Strait of Hormuz
The release of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is currently the most pressing issue. Hormuz is a critical waterway off Iran’s coast, the closure of which triggered the global oil crisis, with millions of barrels of oil shut down daily.
Iran has long controlled a key economic route. When the war began, the US decided to impose a naval blockade on Iranian ports – restricting the flow of trade to and from Iran.
As part of the peace deal, Iran wants to retain control of the key route, while the US wants to use the blockade and put economic pressure on Iran in negotiations.
US President Donald Trump previously told Fox News that “we will not let Iran make money selling oil to people they like and not to people they don’t like.” He said the aim was to let the channel go “all or nothing”.
Under the tentative agreement, which has yet to be signed by Trump, Iran will not be able to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz and will have to remove all mines from the vital waterway within 30 days, according to sources cited by the AP.
The memorandum also says the US would gradually lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports and also agree to ease sanctions, allowing Iran to sell more of its oil.
Iran did not immediately confirm any deal.
Nuclear weapons and giving up enriched uranium
President Donald Trump is resolute in his demand against Iran’s nuclear program. He made it clear that the US did not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and therefore asked Tehran to give up enriched uranium completely.
Trump has insisted that Iran must hand over what he calls “nuclear dust.” But Iranian officials have said the country has a right to a non-weaponized nuclear program.
CNN’s sources told CNN that the tentative deal would begin another 60 days of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, including the fate of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. They reportedly said the most difficult issues related to Iran’s nuclear program had yet to be resolved in those talks.
Iran has 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity, a short technical step from weapons-grade 90 percent, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
US Vice President JD Vance suggested on Thursday that negotiators were trying to reach general terms on highly enriched uranium that are included in the tentative deal, with details to be fleshed out in subsequent talks.
Under a potential deal, Tehran would reportedly agree to give up those supplies. One official told The Associated Press that how Iran waives it will be the subject of further talks during the 60-day period.
Some would likely be diluted and the rest transferred to a third country, the official said.
Nuclear analysts told the AP that Iran could consider China or Russia, which have close ties to Tehran, as a potentially acceptable third party to get hold of the enriched uranium. But Trump said Wednesday that he “wouldn’t mind” such a plan.
Iran has not publicly committed to giving up stockpiles believed to be buried under a trio of nuclear sites that were severely damaged by US airstrikes last year.
Tehran maintains that its nuclear program will cause no harm and that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon.
Esmail Baghaei, an Iranian spokesman, said that “the focus of the talks is on ending the war and we are not discussing the details of the nuclear issue at this stage.”
The Islamic Republic has claimed an “inalienable” right to nuclear technology, insisting its program is peaceful. President Masoud Pezeshkian told state television on Sunday that they were ready to “assure the world that we are not going after a nuclear weapon.”
