The White House reportedly believes it is nearing a one-page memorandum of understanding with Iran aimed at permanently ending the war and laying out a framework for monthlong talks on the regime’s nuclear program.
The US expects a response from Tehran within the next 48 hours, according to a Wednesday Axios report, which cited two US officials and two additional sources briefed on the matter.
The MoU consists of 14 points and is being crafted by US President Donald Trump’s top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, together with several Iranian officials.
The MoU will reportedly include a moratorium on nuclear enrichment by Iran and provide for the shipment of highly-enriched uranium stockpiles out of Iran, in exchange for Washington lifting some of its sanctions on Tehran and releasing billions in the Islamic Republic’s frozen funds, in addition to both sides lifting restrictions around transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
Axios later reported that the document includes a clause stating that the deal “would end the war throughout the region, including in Lebanon.”
Such a clause would mark a significant shift, as the ceasefire reached last month with Iran did not extend to Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting against the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah. Instead, a separate US-brokered truce was reached there between Israel and Lebanon, as both seek to keep the Lebanese front distinct from the Iranian file.
The plan would also declare an end to the war and trigger a 30-day negotiation period, in pursuit of more detailed agreements pertaining to the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear program and US sanctions against the regime.
The US is seeking a moratorium on all uranium enrichment by Iran for at least 12 years, with a provision that would extend the moratorium if Iran were found to have violated it, Axios said. At the end of the negotiated period, the Islamic Republic would be allowed to enrich to the low, civilian-use level of 3.67%, while committing never to seek a nuclear weapon, or to carry out activities related to the development of nuclear weapons, and to submit to enhanced inspections, including snap inspections by the UN.
This would also be a major departure from repeated US pledges not to accept a deal that allows Iran to enrich at all. Trump has also long pilloried the nuclear deal signed by former president Barack Obama, which allowed Tehran to continue enriching at 3.67%.
Iran would agree to remove its existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium, with negotiators floating moving the material to the US, Axios said. A Channel 12 report later Wednesday said there was no agreement on which country would take the stockpile, and that Trump had told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their latest call that without agreement on this issue, there would be no deal.
A clause being negotiated would also require Iran to commit not to operate underground nuclear facilities, the report said.
As the talks proceed, Iran and the US would gradually ease their operations in the Strait of Hormuz to allow shipping through the waterway and trade through Iranian ports, the report said.
But if negotiations collapse or fail to reach a deal, the US could restore the blockade or resume the war, according to a US official. The report cautioned that “nothing has been agreed yet,” but sources describe the current process as the closest the two sides have come to an agreement since the war started with joint American and Israeli airstrikes on February 28.
A Pakistani source involved in the mediation efforts confirmed the report to Reuters, saying, “We will close this very soon. We are getting close.”
Asked what the timeframe might be for Iran and the US to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding permanently ending the war between them, Trump responded, one week.
Fox News said Trump made the comment during a phone interview with the network, which added that the president sounded cautiously optimistic.
Trump has been known to give varying timelines pertaining to the Iran talks in the constant cold calls he takes from journalists.
Given Axios’s reporting that the US is expecting an Iranian response to the MOU within two days, it was unclear whether Trump was suggesting that an additional few days would still be needed after that.
Trump earlier Wednesday signaled support for the proposal in a post on Truth Social, saying the American war effort and blockade on Iran would end if Tehran accepts the terms.
“Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran,” Trump wrote.
