EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France/DUBAI (Reuters) – Doubts swirled around the U.S.-Iran interim deal to end the war in the Middle East with warnings that shipping and energy exports could take weeks to recover, although U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the text would be made public soon.
The interim deal would extend a tenuous ceasefire announced in April by another 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February.
Trump said the text of the deal states clearly that Tehran will not have a nuclear weapon, and the full agreement would be made public in a formal setting in a few days.
Speaking at the G7 meetings in France, Trump added that he liked the idea of sending the Iran deal to Congress for review, a request by some Republican lawmakers.
Negotiators would address difficult issues like the future of Iran’s nuclear programme during the next phase of talks, which Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said would start in Switzerland on Friday after the formal signing of the framework deal.
Two other issues that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used to justify the war – ending Iran’s support for regional armed proxies and curbing its missile programme – are not thought to be on the agenda for those negotiations.
“Iran wants to get it done,” Trump told reporters about the next phase of negotiations with Iran. “They have to get back to business, and the relationship is now normalized, so I think it’s going to go pretty quickly.” Earlier he described the deal as “a wall to a nuclear weapon” for Iran.
Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf are expected to attend Friday’s formal signing.
Oil prices slid more than 2% to new three-month lows on Tuesday, a day after tumbling nearly 5% following news of the deal, though industry officials say Middle East oil and gas output will take monthsto fully recover.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media Monday that the interim agreement was an “important step” toward stopping the fighting but noted a final deal for a lasting truce “has yet to take shape.”
Vance told CNN that the signed memorandum was a “very general document.” Details would be released over the next two days, U.S. officials said.
Both sides still face pressures following a conflict that killed at least 7,000 people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and upended global energy markets.
The accord exposes Trump to criticism from within his own party, while Iran’s leaders could face the risk of renewed protests if they fail to alleviate economic pressures after a destructive war.
