Trump says Iran likely to follow through on MoU

Vice President JD Vance said the text of the US-Iran deal would be released by Friday “at the latest,” and that the White House was pushing to release it sooner.

Vance told CBS Mornings that Qatari and Pakistani negotiators who helped mediate the agreement had “asked us not to release the full text for a little while.”

“We’re actually trying to push them to get it out today, because we want to tell the American people what’s in this deal,” Vance said.

Vance said the agreement would reopen the Strait of Hormuz “immediately” and provide a framework in which Iran could receive benefits if it met US demands on stopping the funding of terrorism and no longer pursuing a nuclear weapon.

“When I say benefits, I’m talking about sanctions relief on their economy,” he said. “We’ve destroyed their nuclear program, but one of the things the president is trying to do is give them the incentive not to try to rebuild that program for the long haul.”

Asked whether the deal includes at least $300 billion in reconstruction financing for Iran and the release of all of Iran’s frozen financial assets, Vance said “none of those things flow to Iran unless Iran fundamentally changes how it behaves with the world.”

“What the president is really saying is, if Iran fundamentally transforms how it deals with the United States and the region, the rest of the world, then Iran can get some economic benefits,” Vance said.

White House communications director Steven Cheung said on X that what CNN described as the text of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding did not reflect the language of the actual agreement.

“The supposed text of the MOU that was obtained by CNN does not reflect the language of the actual MOU,” Cheung said.

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said on X that future regional arrangements must account for Iran’s attacks against the United Arab Emirates and other Arab states in the Persian Gulf during the war.

“Talk of new regional arrangements should not overlook a basic fact: Iran did not confine itself to conflict with Israel or the United States,” Gargash said in a post on X.

“Any serious approach to the future of the region must begin with respect for sovereignty and rejection of aggression against Arab states,” he added.

Gargash was responding to former Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, who said the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was an important development that deserved support and could serve as a starting point for further agreements addressing the Palestinian issue.

UN experts expressed grave concern on Wednesday for two Britons convicted in Iran of espionage who are now on hunger strike in jail.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman were sentenced to 10 years in prison in February on espionage charges, which they deny.

Their family said a failed appeal hearing this month was held without their knowledge and that they had been given little information about the process.

UN special rapporteurs Alice Jill Edwards and Mai Sato said Lindsay Foreman had been refusing food for more than 30 days and her husband Craig for more than 20 days.

“After 30 days without food, this is a medical emergency,” the experts said.

“Lindsay and Craig Foreman should not be in prison,” they added. “They appear to have been wrongfully detained, prosecuted on highly questionable grounds, and sentenced after proceedings that failed to meet basic fair trial guarantees.”

The experts had written to Iranian authorities in April to decry what they said was a pattern of foreign nationals being detained for political purposes.

Britain has called the Foremans’ sentence “totally unjustifiable” and pledged to keep pressing for their release.

Their family has criticized the British government’s response, saying the couple are being used as “human shields” during conflict in the region.

A British-Iranian man was charged on Wednesday over an April arson attack on a memorial wall in London for protesters killed in Iran’s uprising earlier this year.

Ali Reza Fallahi, 45, was charged in connection with the attack on the wall in Golders Green, a north London area with a large Jewish community, displaying pictures of protesters killed by the Iran’s security forces during nationwide protests in January.

He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

“This charge marks another step forward in one of the investigations into the series of arson attacks targeting the Jewish community and Iranian diaspora in London,” said Helen Flanagan, head of counter-terrorism policing in London.

Police said a 38-year-old woman arrested in connection with the arson was released and faces no further action.