Paris, France. Doubts persisted on Tuesday over a U.S.-Iran interim deal aimed at ending the Middle East war, even as U.S. President Donald Trump said the text would be made public soon. The agreement would extend a fragile ceasefire by 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while broader negotiations are set to begin later this week.
Interim deal and ceasefire extension
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 United States and Israel attacked Iran in February.
Trump said the text of the deal makes clear that Tehran will not have a nuclear weapon and that the full agreement would be made public in a formal setting in a few days.
Congress review and next talks
Speaking at the G7 meetings in France, Trump said he supported the idea of sending the Iran deal to Congress for review, reflecting a request made by some Republican lawmakers.
Negotiators are expected to address difficult issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme, during the next phase of talks. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said those negotiations would begin in Switzerland on Friday after the formal signing of the framework deal.
Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf are expected to attend Friday’s formal signing.
Issues outside the current agenda
Two other issues cited by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 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 the upcoming 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.” He had earlier described the deal as “a wall to a nuclear weapon” for Iran.
Market reaction and recovery concerns
Oil prices fell more than 2% to new three-month lows on Tuesday, a day after dropping nearly 5% following news of the deal.
Industry officials said Middle East oil and gas output will take months to fully recover, and warnings remained that shipping and energy exports could take weeks to recover.
Iranian response
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media on Monday that the interim agreement was an “important step” toward stopping the fighting, but said a final deal for a lasting truce “has yet to take shape.”
