War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

US President Donald Trump says he will release the text of the memorandum of understanding with Iran, but wants to “get a formal setting first”.

“I have no problem with that … it is what it says: Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, that’s what it says. To buy, or develop, they will not have a nuclear weapon,” he says in response to a question, adding that it is “99.9 per cent of what I wanted”.

Trump adds that the Strait of Hormuz will be “toll-free, period” when it opens.

“I’ll go over the document with the media in a couple of days,” he says.

When asked what to expect from the second stage of negotiations, US President Donald Trump says, “I think it’s going to happen fairly on time.

“We’ve been both involved, I think we’re going to want to get it done,” he tells reporters. “Iran wants to get it done, they have to get back to business, and the relationship is now normalised. So I think it’s going to go pretty quickly,” he responds.

US President Donald Trump says that the Strait of Hormuz will be open by Friday

Trump is speaking to reporters alongside Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE President.

“The ships are starting to move now, we’re going to have it (Strait of Hormuz) fully open by Friday,” he says. “The ships are starting to move nicely, oil is starting to go and the prices are coming down rapidly.

“Most importantly, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” Trump reiterates.

Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, has spoken with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Tehran and Washington, Al Jazeera reports.

The two officials discussed in particular the provision in the agreement concerning an end to the Israeli war on Lebanon, Iran’s IRIB broadcaster reports.

Berri and Ghalibaf have stressed the need for the US, the parties guaranteeing the MoU, and the international community to compel Israel to end its military campaign, halt the destruction of Lebanese villages, respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and immediately withdraw from territories it has occupied, a statement said, according to Lebanon’s LBC International broadcaster.

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) says “unconditionally” opening the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf tanker traffic is essential to ending the shock from soaring oil and gas prices to economies worldwide, AFP reports.

“The single most important solution to this problem is the fully and unconditionally opening up of the state of Hormuz to shipping,” IEA chief Fatih Birol tells a press conference.

Iran had effectively halted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes launched in late February, choking off oil and gas traffic and sending crude prices skyrocketing.

Birol “warmly” welcomes the US-Iran deal, calling it “great news” that “will give comfort to the markets”.

“The crisis has started almost four months now,” the IEA chief, who has previously compared the fallout to the great oil shocks of the 1970s, points out.

Iranian state television says Iranian oil tankers and other vessels have resumed shipping following a deal with the US, in what appears to be an easing of Washington’s naval blockade, AFP reports.

“Three Iranian oil tankers are currently sailing in the northern Indian Ocean, and two others carrying essential goods and livestock feed are en route and sailing towards southern ports,” says a state television reporter from a site in the Strait of Hormuz.

He adds that “the operation to lift the naval blockade has been implemented”, in reference to the US measure in place since April 13.

Oil prices have fallen more than 2 per cent to a new three-month low as markets show optimism for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, following the preliminary deal between the US and Iran, Al Jazeera reports.

Brent crude futures are down $2.02, or 2.4pc, at $81.15 a barrel, by 1059 GMT. The benchmark has fallen to $80.89 per barrel, the lowest since March 4.

US West Texas Intermediate is down $2.22, or 2.8pc, at $78.53 a barrel after dropping to $78.27 – the lowest since March 10.

Qatar, a key negotiator in the deal to end the war between the US and Iran, believes the agreement can deliver security to the Middle East, AFP reports.

“We are cautiously optimistic that the signing of the memorandum of understanding will lead to the next phase of regional security through the talks that will take place on the nuclear programme and on other issues,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari tells reporters at a regular press briefing.

He confirms that both Pakistani and Qatari officials will be present for the formal signing of the memorandum on Friday.

Declining to comment on the contents of the deal, the spokesman urges “regional dialogue” after the accord is inked if trust with Iran is to be rebuilt.

“I can’t say that we are returning to business as usual in our region with our neighbours … there is a lot of need for dialogue and for agreement over how to guarantee the security of our region,” he says.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari says no Qatari funds have been paid under the reported framework of $300 billion allocated for the reconstruction of Iran after the war, Al Jazeera reports.

“We cannot comment on the $300bn allocated for reconstruction,” he states.

He adds that all efforts in this regard must be international, and the value of the economy in the region should be part of these efforts.

“We did a great job,” US President Donald Trump says, adding that it would take Iran 15-20 years to rebuild after the damage caused by the attacks.

He says that if the agreement was never signed, US would have done more damage to Iran and they would never have been able to rebuild.

Doubling down on Iran not having a nuclear weapon, US President Donald Trump claimed, “If they had a nuclear weapon, they would have blown up Israel.

“They would have blown up the Middle East, and they probably would have taken a shot at us.”

Trump says US is open to trade with Iran in the future if the deal goes well, adding that “they have a lot of oil.”

Trump has appeared to criticise Israeli military action in Lebanon, saying it has been fighting Hezbollah “too long and too many people are being killed”, according to Al Jazeera.

“You don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody because there’s a lot of people in those apartment houses — and they’re not all Hezbollah,” the US president says.

“I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah because, to be honest with you, I think they’d do a better job of doing it,” Trump adds.

President Trump says the ⁠Iran deal specifies that Tehran will ⁠not possess a nuclear weapon, Al Jazeera reports.

“The only thing that really ‌matters to me is Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and it says it ⁠loud and clear,” ⁠he tells reporters at the G7 summit in France.

“All ⁠hell will rain ⁠down” on ⁠Iran if it intends to acquire a ‌nuclear weapon, Trump adds.

The US president has said he thinks Iran “has rational leadership now”, after US and Israeli attacks killed numerous Iranian officials early in the war, AlJazeera reports.

He said the Iranian leaders who were “totally irrational” are “now gone”.

Talking about the Iranian regime change, Trump has said that the current Iranian leaders are “very rational people,” adding that they are “not radicalised”.

“I never cared about the regime change,” Trump said.

He further said that regime changes don’t work, and that countries should run on respect, not fear.

The US president says under the agreement being negotiated with Iran it “can’t have a nuclear weapon” or “they get blown up”, AlJazeera reports.

“This deal is a wall to a nuclear weapon,” said Trump, while describing the previous nuclear deal with Iran – reached under the administration of former US President Barack Obama – as “a road to a nuclear weapon”.

US President Donald Trump has said that he has a great relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but that he must be more responsible with respect to Lebanon, Reuters reports.

Trump, speaking at the G7 summit, has said he told Israel that he did not like its attack on Beirut and suggested that Syria should take care of Hezbollah instead of Israel.

“Frankly the only thing that really matters to me is Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump says in a meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit.

He added that the deal says “loud and clear” that Iran cannot buy, develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.

He warned that Iran would suffer “unbelievable consequences” if it acquires nuclear weapons in the future.

“That’s the reason I agreed to sign,” Trump said.

US President Donald Trump said he had hoped to avoid military action, but ultimately felt it was necessary.

“I didn’t want to attack them last week, but we had no choice,” Trump said, before praising the deal reached afterwards, according to Al Jazeera.

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani says the US-Iran agreement will result in positive outcomes throughout the Middle East, Al Jazeera reports.

“I want to thank you for your leadership in this very critical time in the Middle East. This is a very important deal, there’s still a lot of work to be done, but with this momentum – if we continue like that Mr President – I think we can achieve and do great things in the region,” Sheikh Tamim told Trump at the summit.

Trump said the US would not be “investing any money in Iran”, calling such claims a “ridiculous” rumour, according to Al Jazeera.

Trump described the deal reached with Iran as “fair” and “good”.

The US president has said the announced deal with Iran “should be successful,” Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking in France, where he is attending the G7 summit, Trump said he expects that negotiations to reach a planned second stage of the deal to “be actually easier”.

Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim meets President Trump at the G7 summit in France and discuss Middle East security and investment, Al Jazeera reports.

Two Iran-linked tankers are sailing eastward through the Strait of Hormuz ahead of the US and the Islamic Republic signing an interim peace agreement on Friday that would re-open the waterway, Bloomberg reports.

The fuel carriers are transiting the chokepoint with their transponders on, according to shiptracking data. The Musik is in the strait, while the Argo Maris has already passed through and is in the Gulf of Oman, but is still within the US blockade line that runs from the easternmost tip of Oman to the Iran-Pakistan border.