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Draft US deal to be signed 'remotely', possibly in 'coming days', Iran FM says
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that upon finalisation, a draft deal with the US would be signed "remotely", which could happen "in the coming days."
"As soon as the final stages of our negotiations are completed, this agreement will be signed and announced. The signing will initially take place digitally. Each side will sign remotely. After that, it will be announced that this memorandum of understanding has been signed by both parties," said Araghchi in an interview with state television.
"This could happen in the coming days. I am very hopeful."
Iran FM says draft US deal includes ending naval blockade, Hormuz arrangements
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said a draft deal with the US included ending a naval blockade of Iranian ports and arrangements on managing the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
"The naval blockade must be completely lifted. That is the first point mentioned in the agreement," Araghchi said in an interview with state television.
"Iran has made a firm decision that the administration of Strait of Hormuz will no longer be the same as before," he noted, adding that discussions were ongoing with Oman on the matter.
France calls on US, Iran to seize opportunity to sign peace deal
French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot has called on the US and Iran to seize the opportunity to end a situation that is unsustainable and sign an initial peace deal.
"We call on both sides to seize this opportunity to end a situation that is clearly untenable and only creates losers...that is what I told my Iranian counterpart," he said in an interview with cable TV channel LCI.
Barrot said he spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday morning.
"I am cautious, but the positive signs are accumulating," he said. "I feel both sides have a will to reach this deal."
Iran FM says Israel looking to derail potential deal with US
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned that Israel was looking to derail a potential deal with the US currently being finalised.
"I must frankly say that this agreement has enemies, the foremost of which is the Zionist regime, who are looking for pretexts to derail it," said Araghchi in an interview on state television.
'Commitments made must be commitments kept,' Iran's top negotiator says
Iran’s parliamentary speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has warned that commitments made under a signed deal must be kept -- in an apparent reference to the 2015 nuclear deal, frpm which President Trump withdrew in 2018 under his first presidency.
"Commitments made must be commitments kept. No ifs, no buts, no excuses. For the close deal ahead, there is no other way. You reap what you sow," said Ghalibaf in a post on X.
UAE to unlock billions of dollars for Iran, sources tell Reuters
The United Arab Emirates has agreed to unlock billions of dollars for Iran, four sources told Reuters, in a tactical shift after weeks of Iranian attacks on the wealthy Gulf Arab state during the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic.
Word of the move, which has not been previously reported, coincides with the final stages of broader negotiations between Tehran and Washington on ending the war, talks that diplomats say could involve the release of tens of billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks under US sanctions.
Two regional sources told Reuters the UAE had agreed to release a total of $10 billion, more than $3 billion of which had already been delivered.
Two other sources with knowledge of the arrangement put the total funds involved at $20 billion, adding that the move had been agreed in return for a halt to Iranian attacks on the UAE.
One of the sources with knowledge of the arrangement also said a first tranche of $3 billion had already been made available.
Reuters could not establish whether the funds earmarked for the transfers belong to the UAE or originate in long-blocked Iranian accounts in the UAE banking system, or elsewhere.
But a UAE official, asked to comment on the transfer, said the country was trying to ease tension and foster peace.
"The UAE's foreign policy is guided by promoting de-escalation and reducing tensions across the region, while advancing lasting peace and stability," the official said. "The UAE supports efforts, including those undertaken by the United States, to protect the peoples of the region from the repercussions of conflict."
US and Iran have agreed to wording of a deal to end their war, Pakistan's prime minister says
Pakistan’s prime minister has said the US and Iran have agreed to wording of an agreement aimed at ending their war in the Middle East and that mediators were working with both sides to finalise a deal.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the US and Iran have reached a “final, agreed upon text.” He said Pakistan, which has taken the lead in mediation efforts, was working with the warring countries on next steps.
“Peace has never been this close as it is now,” Sharif said in a post on X.
Israeli, Palestinian groups urge G7 support for two-state solution
Palestinian and Israeli civil society groups urged support for a two-state solution, saying "the window of opportunity" was closing, as they met in Paris on Friday.
The Paris meeting came ahead of a G7 summit in France next week and was attended by the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas as well as ministers from Brazil, Canada, the UAE and Turkey.
In a statement, representatives of Palestinian and Israeli civil society groups called on G7 leaders to urgently take action.
"Israelis and Palestinians alike remain trapped in fear, insecurity, and trauma," they said.
"The window for a solution remains open; but it is narrowing. This moment requires urgent diplomacy, grounded in partnership with civil society."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, one of the most right-wing in Israel's history, vehemently opposes the emergence of a sovereign and fully independent Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, and is working on the ground to undermine the possibility of a two-state solution.
Trump reposts Iran foreign minister's post about talks to end war
President Donald Trump has reposted a social media post by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in which he said a memorandum of understanding to end the Iran war had never been closer.
JD Vance says Iran will not get funds for deal signing
US Vice President JD Vance has said funds would not be released to Iran for signing a deal with the US or attending a meeting.
Vance added that the potential deal "is structured to ensure that the US and its allies concerns are prioritized" and that if Tehran meets its obligations, "economic benefits will flow to them and to the entire region".
Earlier Friday, Iran's Mehr news agency, quoting a source close to Iran's negotiating team, published what it said was the text of a draft deal being finalised.
The draft, it said, would end the war on all fronts including Lebanon, see the release of $24 billion in Iran's frozen assets, and set a 60-day period for negotiations on Tehran's nuclear programme.
Iranian FM says MOU 'never been closer', but cautions against speculation
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said an "Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding" for addressing the US-Israeli war on Iran has "never been closer", but he urged media outlets to refrain from speculating about its contents until it was finalised.
Araghchi said Iran would share all details with the public in due course, in what he called Tehran's responsible and transparent approach.
Trump says Iran's leaked deal terms are untrue
President Donald Trump has saidIran's leaked comments on a deal with the US do not represent what has been agreed to in writing.
"What they said, including their weak and pathetic statement on having a deal, bears no relation to the truth. Very dishonorable people to deal with. With them, there is no such thing as dealing in good faith. AMAZING!," he wrote on Truth Social.
"They better get their act together, and FAST!," Trump said.
On Thursday, Trump said he was calling off new strikes on Iran because a deal had been reached.
Hezbollah confident any US-Iran deal will include Lebanon, politician says
Hezbollah is confident that Iran will insist on Lebanon being included in a deal with the US, a leading Hezbollah politician has said in a speech broadcast on the group's al-Manar TV.
"If the agreement happens, we have complete confidence in the Islamic Republic ... we have confidence that it will insist on any agreement including the file of Lebanon," said Hassan Fadlallah in an excerpt of a
speech broadcast by the group's al-Manar TV.
Tehran has repeatedly insisted on the inclusion of the Lebanon conflict as part of any deal with the US to end the Iran war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night said he spoke to President Donald Trump and "appreciated" the US leader's commitment to the issue of " the cessation of Iran's support" for Tehran's "proxies in the region".
Details of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the US and Iran, which could be signed over the weekend, have not been released.
Netanyahu in 'full agreement' with Trump on Iran not acquiring nuclear weapons
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is in "full agreement" with President Donald Trump about keeping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
"As long as I am prime minister of Israel, Iran will not have nuclear weapons. There is full agreement between me and President Trump on this issue," Netanyahu said in a statement.
Iran-linked group claims hack of FBI drones, threatens World Cup
An Iran-linked hacker group claims to have breached FBI drones and has threatened to target the World Cup that kicked off this week, a monitoring group said on Friday.
The SITE Intelligence Group, an organization that monitors jihadist groups, published a statement from Handala saying they had had access "for months" to "every image and every suspect" captured by first-person view (FPV) drones used by the FBI.
The hackers said the drones featured facial recognition and license plate screening deployed for counterterrorism.
"Better tighten your World Cup security, we don't like some of those teams at all. Don't forget: FPVs are everywhere; you never know when one might end up right in your team's bus," Handala said in the statement quoted by SITE.
Iran state media says Tehran would keep right to enrich uranium under any US deal
Iran's state media has said that the Islamic republic would maintain the right to enrich uranium under any final agreement with the United States following 60 days of negotiations.
"Iran will negotiate on the nuclear programme solely within the framework of the Islamic Republic's fundamental principles, and issues such as Iran's right to enrich uranium and the retention of enriched material... will be emphasised with a view to their inclusion in the final agreement," according to the official IRNA news agency.
France accuses Israel’s BlackCore of meddling in elections around the world
Israeli firm BlackCore – which is suspected of interfering in France's local elections in March – is also suspected of meddling in elections in New York City and Scotland, and operating in Angola and Togo, France's disinformation detection service, Viginum, said on Thursday.
The current agreement between Iran and the United States contains no provisions regarding the Strait of Hormuz, reports the IRNA
Under the agreement reached with the United States, Iran is making no commitments regarding the transfer of control over the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Iranian state media.
It adds that future management of the strait will be resolved at the regional level through dialogue and joint decision-making between Tehran and Oman.
This memorandum reportedly contains no agreement regarding the nuclear issue. Negotiations on the subject will take place within 60 days of the signing.
Iranian woman among migrants deported from US to Central African Republic
An Iranian woman is among around two dozens migrants set to arrive Friday in the Central African Republic on a deportation flight from the United States, lawyers said, in the latest example of the Trump administration’s widely criticised deals with African and Latin American nations to take third-country deportees.
The Central African Republic, a deeply impoverished country plagued by conflict, is one of at least nine other African nations that has agreed to take third-country nationals deported by the US.
Three Iranian women in the US were originally scheduled to be sent to Central African Republic, according to Sahar Jalili Pawelski, one of their immigration lawyers, who said two of them received emergency court orders temporarily stopping their deportation while judges reviewed whether the government was acting legally.
All three had been granted court protection against deportation to Iran after judges ruled they faced credible fears of persecution on the basis of politics or religion, Jalili Pawelski said.
Iran media details terms of possible agreement with US
Iran's Mehr news agency has been reporting what it says are some of the terms for a potential ceasefire deal with the US, citing a source close to Iran's negotiating team. Here is what it said the possible deal would include so far:
- A 60-day negotiation period to agree a nuclear deal
- The release of $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets
- An "permanent and immediate cessation" of the war on all fronts , including Lebanon
The US has not confirmed these terms.
Yesterday's key developments:
• US President Donald Trump said he had halted plans for new military strikes on Iran, claiming negotiators were close to extending a fragile ceasefire.
• The Israeli prime minister’s office said Trump had spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about an emerging "memorandum of understanding" to enter negotiations with Iran, which would include the removal of enriched material and limits on missile production.
• Responding to Trump's latest threats to Iran's oil facilities, the Iranian military command warned that "either oil and gas exports are for everyone, or they will be available for no one".
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
