Fresh hope that US and Iran can agree peace deal

THE United States is close to reaching a deal with Iran that would end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, with the details and timelines to be worked out later.

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Iran has not publicly committed to giving up its uranium - a key demand of US President Donald Trump - and the sides have seemed close to a deal at different points in recent weeks without clinching one.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to India, said yesterday that “significant progress, although not final progress, has been made” in the negotiations, and that the world would no longer need to fear Iran getting a nuclear weapon, without elaborating.

Iran’s embassy in India responded to Rubio on social media, saying Tehran has an “inalienable” right to nuclear technology. Iran has always insisted its programme is peaceful.