US, Iran reach deal on Strait, says US official

THE UNITED STATES and Iran have agreed in-principle to a deal that would wind down the war in West Asia by reopening the Strait of Hormuz with a commitment from Iran to dispose of its highly enriched uranium, a senior US official told reporters on Sunday.

- TYLER PAGER, AARON BOXERMAN, FARNAZ FASSIHI & JULIAN BARNES

Iran’s leaders or official state media have not publicly commented on what is in any potential agreement or what is being discussed. Over the last 24 hours, Iranian and US officials have offered some conflicting depictions of what a deal might contain.

On Sunday, the US official said a deal had not yet been signed and was still subject to final approval from President Trump and Iran’s supreme leader, which could take days.

The official said the mechanism by which Iran would dispose of its highly enriched uranium was still being negotiated. Trump has insisted that the United States seize the material as part of his vow to curb Iran’s nuclear programme.

Trump said in a social media post earlier on Sunday that he had ordered his negotiators “not to rush into a deal,” after saying a day earlier that a preliminary agreement between the two countries was “largely negotiated.”

If a deal were certified, Trump said, the US could end its blockade of Iranian ports, which it had used to pressure Tehran to reopen the strait. THE US IS on the verge of finalising a trade agreement with India after “tremendous progress” in negotiations, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday.