Iran…Trump…Conflict/War…Morning…5/24/2026…Peace Deal?

“Suffice it to say some progress has been made, significant progress, although not final progress,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a visit to India on Sunday, adding that Mr. Trump could reveal more about the talks later today.

U.S. and Iranian officials called the agreement a framework that would need further negotiations rather than the final word. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, which has acted as a mediator, said on social media that he hoped to host “the next round of talks very soon.”

For Mr. Trump, a deal with Iran could offer a path to ending the turmoil wrought by the war, which began in late February when the United States and Israel attacked Iran. The conflict has killed thousands, rattled global energy markets, left many in the region bracing for rounds of missile attacks and bombing raids, and been broadly unpopular among the American public.

But neither the United States nor Iran released a copy of the proposed framework, leaving the contours of the deal in doubt. The future of Iran’s nuclear program, part of Mr. Trump’s case for launching the war, was unclear.

U.S. and Iranian officials also gave clashing statements as to what had been agreed. Mr. Trump has repeatedly said Iran must give up its stockpile of enriched uranium, which the U.S. and Israel fear could be used to build a nuclear weapon.

Two U.S. officials said the proposed agreement included an apparent commitment by Tehran to give up the uranium, although exactly how would be deferred to a later round of talks. Three Iranian officials said the memorandum of understanding said nothing about the fate of Iran’s nuclear program.

The Iranian officials said the memorandum stipulated only that all nuclear matters would be negotiated within 30 to 60 days. Like the American officials, they spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive subject.

Publicly, both the American and Iranian officials emphasized the concessions they hoped to secure. Mr. Trump said the deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil and gas supplies, which Iran has effectively blockaded during the conflict, spurring a surge in global energy prices.

The Iranian officials said the deal Tehran had agreed to would reopen the Strait of Hormuz without any tolls; lift the U.S. naval blockade on Iran; stop the fighting on all fronts, including between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group, in Lebanon; and release $25 billion in Iranian assets frozen overseas.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

• Cease-fire backdrop: The United States, Israel and Iran agreed to a cease-fire in early April to allow for talks on Iran’s nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Trump’s latest announcement followed a wave of last-ditch diplomatic efforts to stave off a return to full-scale war.

• Israeli reaction: Mr. Trump said in his social media post that he had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Mr. Netanyahu’s office has not commented, and it was unclear whether Israel would agree to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

• Regional role: Leaders from Arab and Muslim-majority countries told Mr. Trump by phone on Saturday that they supported the latest proposal to end the Iran war and urged him to accept it, according to three Middle Eastern officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly….

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The Guardian…

Sources have told Reuters the proposed framework for peace would unfold in three stages: formally ending the war, resolving the crisis in the strait of Hormuz and launching a 30-day window for negotiations on a broader agreement, which can be extended.

Two Pakistani sources told the news agency that, according to the proposed memorandum, the Strait would be opened immediately after the US lifted its blockade. Marco Rubio said that, if the outline was agreed on, it would mean “completely open straits”, and “without tolls”.

The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency said any changes in navigation through the strait of Hormuz were conditional on implementation of other commitments by the US. It also said some Iranian funds that have been frozen globally as part of sanctions must be released in the first phase of the deal.

One of the Pakistani sources said if the US accepted the memorandum, further talks could take place after the Muslim Eid holiday ends next Friday….

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Republican Hardliners….

News of the potential US-Iran deal triggered dismay among Republican hawks, who had spent years calling for US military action against Iran, and deriding the 2015 deal to limit Iran’s nuclear enrichment in return for sanctions relief negotiated during the Obama administration.

Trump withdrew from that international deal, known as the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA), in 2018.

Mike Pompeo, who served as CIA director and secretary of state during Trump’s first term, denounced the current proposed agreement as too close to what Barack Obama’s negotiators had achieved and a boon to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“The deal being floated with Iran seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook: Pay the IRGC to build a WMD program and terrorize the world,” Pompeo wrote on social media, referring to Obama’s chief negotiators.

The alternative, Pompeo added, is “straightforward: Open the damned strait. Deny Iran access to money. Take out enough Iranian capability so it cannot threaten our allies in the region.”

The Iranian Leaders need to Appear to give their Ok …..

Iran’s supreme leader and national security council still need to approve the proposed peace deal between Tehran and Washington, Iranian officials said on Sunday.

One or two clauses in the proposed peace deal between the US and Iran must be clarified to Iran’s satisfaction before the memorandum of understanding can be sent to Iran’s supreme national security council and the supreme leader, Motjaba Khamenei, for ratification, Iranian officials said on Sunday, adding this had been conveyed to the Pakistani mediators. Donald Trump claimed on Saturday that a peace deal with Iran “has been largely negotiated”, after calls with Pakistan, Gulf allies and Israel.

The Iranian government seemed to be in jubilant mood, preparing to claim a massive and historic victory over its two great foes, the US and Israel. Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said: “What has guaranteed the preservation and stability of the country is the solidarity and empathy of the people.”

The deal reportedly offers Iran sanctions relief and the unlocking of as much as $20bn frozen assets in return for Iran reopening the strait of Hormuz and agreeing to negotiate on its nuclear programme over the next 60 days starting on 5 June in Pakistan. Details of the final points of dispute were not released. At least $12bn of the assets are in Qatar.

The deal also reportedly requires Iran and the US, and their allies, to cease fighting, and for Israel to end its offensive in Lebanon….

On Saturday, Trump spoke to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the key original advocate of the war when it began in February, to try to reassure him on the ceasefire’s terms. Netanyahu is concerned by the postponement of the nuclear issue but has little option other than to accept Trump’s decision to end a domestically unpopular war that is crippling the world economy by injecting inflation and critical supply shortages.

Gulf states, as well as the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, had lobbied Trump on Saturday on the phone urging him to rule out returning to a bombing campaign inside Iran that they said would only bring Iranian reprisals and not topple an entrenched regime…..