Trump may release US-Iran deal before Friday, Vance says

Donald Trump may decide to release a preliminary deal to end the war with Iran before Friday, US Vice President JD Vance said, after the president said the agreement had already been signed.

Vance described the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran as about a page and a half and very general.

Senior US officials have begun giving some details about the deal, saying the Strait of Hormuz would reopen on Friday, the same day the deal is formally signed in Geneva.

Trump is attending the G7 summit in France, which will host a special session on Iran on Tuesday attended by the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

On Monday, during talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said the deal was signed. US officials said it had been signed electronically by Trump, Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Technical talks on Iran's nuclear program are expected to begin this week. Any sanctions relief or release of assets will depend on Iran meeting commitments under the deal.

Vance told Fox News that Trump might decide to release the agreement with Tehran before Friday. He told CNN's Jake Tapper that the memorandum sets up a framework for future negotiations and that Iran will commit to regional peace and stability, including stopping the funding of terrorist organizations. He said the document also includes a verifiable commitment by Iran not to build a nuclear weapon.

The deal will extend a ceasefire for another 60 days. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country mediated, said the agreement includes the immediate and permanent end of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

US officials said Lebanon is covered by the ceasefire framework but that the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory is not a condition of the deal. Israel would retain the right to self-defense.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces would remain in security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza as long as necessary and would keep the freedom to act against attacks. He said Iran would not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, with or without a deal.

Netanyahu spoke after Lebanese media reported a deadly Israeli strike on a car in the south, the first since the peace deal was announced. Hezbollah said it had fired missiles and drones at Israeli forces in return.

Trump said he had ordered the immediate removal of a US naval blockade of Iranian ports and that the Strait of Hormuz would open when the initial agreement was signed. He claimed ships were starting to move, many loaded with oil, out of the strait.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed the end of military operations in a phone call on Iranian state TV. Iran's foreign ministry said Tehran still held deep mistrust of the US and that the agreement was merely a step toward reducing tensions.