US ‘80-85%’ confident of signing peace deal with Iran, senior official says
Proposed plan would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, dismantle Iran’s nuclear programme and end the conflict
The Trump administration on Friday said that it is “80-85 per cent” confident of signing the peace agreement with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war in the Middle East.
“We do expect to be signing this agreement over the next few days … if I were to give you a confidence that we were going to be signing this agreement, I maybe would have said 75 per cent this morning; it’s probably more like 80-85 per cent now, but it’s not 100 per cent,” a senior administration official said.
The official also laid out the details of the proposed deal, saying the arrangement reopens the strait, lifts the blockade and dismantles the Iranian nuclear programme. It also allows the US to access Iran’s enriched material, which would be destroyed on-site before being removed from the country.
The official also confirmed that Washington envisions a “tactical negotiation” period of 60 days and claimed that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is “comfortable” with the current text.
“People, both on the civilian and military side, both of whom have attested that the supreme leader is comfortable with where we are in the negotiation.”
The administration official also denied reports that Iran would get any sanctions relief for signing the initial agreement.