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The US president told the G7 that he would ‘go back to bombing’ if a full agreement was not struck within 60 days
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The US has lifted its blockade on Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz, the military has said, as officials claim millions of barrels are once again flowing through the vital waterway.
“Today, U.S. forces lifted the blockade on all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas, in accordance with the President’s direction,” Centcom said in a statement.
The navy will “remain in the general area” to ensure the agreement with Iran is “adhered to, obeyed and in full force and effect”.
In a press conference earlier on Thursday, vice president JD Vance said 12.5 million barrels of oil had passed through the strait the previous night, and that Iranian forces had not fired on any ships.
This still falls short of the 20 million barrels which typically passed through the waterway on an average day pre-war.
It comes after Donald Trump lashed out at “jealous fools” criticising him over his agreement to end the war in Iran on Thursday, amid mounting backlash from allies over the 14-point agreement signed this week.
“These fools, who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are “tumbling” down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The White House has provided a copy of the interim US-Iran agreement to the US Congress on Thursday.
The terms listed in the document to Congress matched the details of the interim US-Iran agreement read out by a US official on Wednesday.
The document, titled “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America”, begins with a declaration of an immediate and permanent end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon.
The document also confirmed that the US would fully end its naval blockade on Iranian ports within 30 days and Iran would ensure safe passage of commercial vessels at no charge in the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days.
Washington and Tehran commit to negotiating a final deal within 60 days, and they can extend the time frame by mutual agreement, the document showed.
The document bears signatures on behalf of Iran and the United States, with Pakistan signing as witness and mediator.
Donald Trump’s criticism of a past Iran deal has resurfaced amid mounting pressure over his memorandum to end the current war.
The president took to Twitter on November 24, 2013 to make his thoughts known as the US co-signed the interim Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) with allies.
“What a rotten deal we made with Iran. We get nothing (except laughter at our stupidity). They get everything, including delay and big cash!” he wrote at the time.
Vance has issued a warning to Israel to respect the peace process between the US and Iran.
Attacks on Beirut that kill civilians were “not acceptable”, he said.
He also hit out at Israeli critics peace agreement, stating on Thursday: “I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
Speaking to reporters from the White House, Vance said that President Donald Trump was “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” and chastised Israeli cabinet members that the majority of the Jewish State’s defensive weapons were provided through US funding.
“The problem for Israel is not Donald J. Trump and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the President of the US needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in,” Vance said.
Republicans have turned on Donald Trump over his plan to end the war with Iran, accusing him of making the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades”.
The U.S. released the 14-point interim agreement on Wednesday as Trump signed the documents in Versailles, France. The terms included stopping the conflict and reopening the vital shipping route the Strait of Hormuz, but also financing Iran’s recovery with a $300bn fund and scrapping sanctions.
“Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” said Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy on Wednesday, referring to the former president Trump admires.
Read the full story:
Iran has restored about 89% of petrochemical units that were knocked offline during the war with Israel and the U.S., the head of the country’s largest petrochemical holding group said on Thursday, according to the Iranian Student News Agency.
Mohammad Shariatmadari, chief executive of Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company, said disrupted facilities had returned to production following what he described as rapid reconstruction efforts, with some units operating above nominal capacity, while others had yet to reach full output.
Iran introduced a ban on petrochemical exports in April to ensure domestic supply after its petrochemical sector production was disrupted by Israeli strikes hitting utilities companies that provide feedstock for petrochemical plants.
Vance is now discussing the issue of US sanctions on Iran, some of which are set to be lifted during the 60-day ceasefire.
He says that the Trump administration will soon brief the US Congress on the Iran deal.
“We feel quite confident that we can temporarily lift those sanctions without going to Congress and seeking their approval on that,” Vance told reporters at the White House.
JD Vance is now seeking to prove his worth engaging in the high-stakes negotiations with Tehran over the coming weeks.
Pointing to his recent appearance on The View, in which he was mercilessly grilled by Joy Behar and her co-hosts, Vance said he is well equipped to deal with “hostile negotiations”.
“I have seen some progressive criticisms of me personally saying, what experience does the Vice President of the United States have with hostile, high-stakes negotiations,” the vice president said.
“I would point those progressive critics to the fact that just two days ago I spent over an hour on The View, so I actually have a great experience in very hostile negotiations.
“Joy Behar is way tougher than the Iranians, and she and I are best friends now. So we’re going to get to a good place here,” he adds.
Read here Holly Baxter’s scathing critique of Vance’s disastrous appearance on The View.
The 60-day ceasefire period in which the US and Iran will lock into negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme and a long-term peace deal has started today, Vance says.
“I would say the 60-day period officially started today,” he told reporters at a White House briefing.
By the end of the negotiations, he says, the US expects that Iran won’t have missiles that can threaten the entire world. He did not state specifically which arm the US expects Tehran to give up.
He adds that Tehran would need to receive a lot of money in order to rebuild its nuclear programme.
Any flareups during the 60-day period will need to be managed via diplomacy, he says.
We’re hearing from US vice president JD Vance, who is giving a press conference at the White House.
He says the the Strait of Hormuz has reopened, and that 12.5 million barrels of oil moved through the waterway overnight.
Iran did not shoot at any ships transiting through the strait, he adds.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says an average of 20 million barrels of oil used to flow through the strait during peacetime.
Vance also reiterates that Iran’s nuclear and military capabilities have been “largely destroyed”, a claim repeated by Trump administration officials.
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