LONDON, June 15 - Officials from the United States, Iran and mediator Pakistan have set out the terms of a preliminary memorandum they say will bring an end to the active conflict. The parties have described a staged approach to cease hostilities, immediate operational steps tied to the signing of the memorandum, and a subsequent 60-day window of negotiations to address more complex issues.
How the deal will be phased and what happens when
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said both sides declared an immediate and permanent end of all military operations.
All parties have indicated the memorandum of understanding will be signed in Switzerland on Friday. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabdi said the memorandum would then be published.
Both Iran and the United States have said the Strait of Hormuz would begin to reopen and that the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports would start to lift as soon as the memorandum is signed.
Both sides have said negotiations over more difficult remaining issues - notably Iran's nuclear activities and U.S. sanctions on Iran - will be carried out over the following 60 days.
Strait of Hormuz and blockade of Iranian ports
U.S. President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened on Friday and that he had ordered a lifting of the blockade on Iranian ports. A senior Iranian official said the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened "to all commercial vessels" once the memorandum was signed. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported that, under the memorandum, marine traffic through the Strait would be regulated by Iran in coordination with Oman.
Iran's nuclear programme
According to statements from both sides, Iran has agreed that it will neither produce nor acquire nuclear weapons - a pledge Tehran has made repeatedly in the past. The senior Iranian official said that, pending a final agreement, Iran would freeze its nuclear activity, refraining from further uranium enrichment or expansion of nuclear facilities.
The senior Iranian official also said the U.S. had agreed that Iran could dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium inside Iran under a future comprehensive agreement. President Trump said on Saturday there was no urgency to extract Iran's stockpile of nuclear material, adding the United States would retrieve it "when all is calm".
Trump said there would be a strong inspections regime for Iran under any detailed arrangement, but he did not provide specifics on how inspections would be structured. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said any final deal on Iran's nuclear programme would have to be reviewed and approved by Congress.
Sanctions and financial impact
The senior Iranian official said the United States had agreed not to impose any new sanctions on Iran until a final deal was reached. They added the United States would waive oil sanctions on Iran for a specified period and that, after the final agreement, all U.S. and U.N. sanctions would be lifted according to an agreed timetable.
The senior Iranian official said the United States had agreed to release $25 billion of Iran's frozen assets, including by means of direct cash transfers, cooperation among regional countries, and financial credit lines. They also said Washington, in coordination with its regional allies, would prepare a reconstruction and development plan for Iran to be negotiated and agreed with Tehran within 60 days.
President Trump said Iran would not be provided with cash but acknowledged that sanctions could potentially be lifted.
Lebanon
Prime Minister Sharif said the immediate and permanent end of all military operations would include Lebanon. The Secretariat of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said military operations would stop permanently on Monday night, including in Lebanon. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there must be a complete halt to Israeli attacks against Lebanon and said the United States bears responsibility for implementing the framework deal.
Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli military would remain in security zones it has captured in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made this clear to President Trump.
What the memorandum sets in motion
According to the statements released by the parties, the memorandum aims to accomplish an immediate cessation of military hostilities and to trigger the reopening of key maritime routes and the stepwise removal of economic and financial restrictions. At the same time, the agreement leaves several major elements to be resolved through further negotiation over a 60-day period, including the detailed terms for nuclear activities, the sequencing and scope of sanction relief, and the mechanisms for international inspections and asset transfers.
Practical sequence tied to signature
All sides have tied the most immediate operational changes - ending hostilities, lifting the naval blockade and reopening the Strait - to the act of signing the memorandum. Subsequent measures and longer-term arrangements, including reconstruction planning and the final disposition of Iran's nuclear material, are to be negotiated after that signature within specified windows.
Remaining areas for negotiation
The memorandum, as described by officials, places the most contentious items into a follow-on negotiation phase. Those items include the final legal and technical conditions of an inspection regime, the precise modalities for handling Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, the detailed timetable for lifting U.S. and U.N. sanctions, and congressional review of any final nuclear agreement in the United States.
Officials have also flagged that some security arrangements on the ground, such as Israeli retention of certain security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, may not be altered by the memorandum and will remain points of contention as the implementation process proceeds.