Day 107 of Iran War: US and Tehran Near Initial Phase of Deal
Al Jazeera Staff
The United States and Iran appear close to signing the first phase of a peace agreement, but the two sides offer different timelines for finalization. US President Donald Trump says a ceasefire deal could be signed as early as Sunday, while Iran says it will not be tomorrow. The deal includes 14 points, including lifting the US blockade on Iranian ports and ending hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon.
The United States and Iran appear close to signing the first phase of a peace agreement, but the two sides offer different timelines for when the deal will be finalized. US President Donald Trump and mediators from Pakistan said a deal is expected to be signed on Sunday. However, Iran's Foreign Ministry stated it will not be Sunday, and the specific date remains undetermined.
Marking the anniversary of a 12-day war, Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared on Saturday that Iranians will stand firm until "ultimate victory." "Following the example of the heroic and oppressed martyrs of the 12-day war, we will stand to our last breath for the pride and ultimate victory of dear Iran," Ghalibaf posted on X. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Israel's aim to weaken the Iranian nation failed during the 12-day war last June, and Iran's unity forced the enemy to accept a ceasefire.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday the deal includes 14 points, the first being the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports. He said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) calls for an end to hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, and an agreement not to initiate war or use force.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that after a framework deal is signed, the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil supplies that Iran blockaded, will immediately "open for all." Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Saturday the signing date has not been set but "will not be tomorrow." However, he added: "It cannot be ruled out that this will happen in the coming days." Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that "finalization" of the deal is expected within "the next 24 hours" and will be signed electronically.
Al Jazeera correspondent Kimberly Halkett from Washington, DC, said the US president implied that the memorandum between the US and Iran will be signed online. "Right now, the US president's schedule has been posted for Sunday. There is no mention of a virtual signing ceremony. However, it could be added," she said. Al Jazeera correspondent Almigdad Alruhaid from Tehran said the path to an agreement has never been closer, but the final decision to sign has not yet been announced by Iranian officials. "It's now 24 hours since Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iranians are reviewing the draft text of the memorandum," he said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who launched the war alongside the US in February, said Trump promised him any deal would include the removal of enriched nuclear material.
US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday that Iran had "launched multiple one-way attack drones in an attempt to strike commercial vessels transiting through the Strait [of Hormuz]." It added that "US forces shot down all of them over the past several hours." Democratic lawmakers expressed skepticism about Trump's plan, with one lawmaker describing the potential deal as "essentially a surrender document." "The president says the war is over. I hope he is right," California Senator Adam Schiff said on X. "But we have heard this before. Along with a string of broken promises."
Al Jazeera correspondent Heidi Pett from Beirut said Israeli attacks continued in Lebanon despite reports of an imminent Iran deal. "There were airstrikes early morning in the town of Deir ez-Zahrani, killing two people in the Nabatieh district. The mayor of a town called Rihan in the Jezzine district was killed this morning. And one person was killed in a cemetery just south of the city of Tyre," she said. "Hezbollah also said it targeted Israeli soldiers trying to advance." The Israeli military said sirens sounded in northern Israel after "a hostile aircraft infiltration." It said "two impacts of suspicious aerial targets inside Israeli territory were identified near the Israel-Lebanon border." The expected deal has also sparked backlash in Israel, with some commentators saying it will continue to empower Iran. "The only event powerful enough to override the military victories we have achieved in recent years against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran is the political defeat we suffer immediately after," Israeli journalist Ben Caspit wrote in Maariv.
