US, Iran Agree On 60-Day Extension Of Ceasefire: Report

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The United States and Iran reached an agreement yesterday ‌to extend their ceasefire pending the approval of President Donald Trump, after Iran had targeted a US ​air base in Kuwait following US strikes ‌on what Washington called an Iranian drone operation.

According to four sources familiar with the matter, ‌the two sides agreed a memorandum-of-understanding to extend the truce for ‌60 days but the plan still needed Trump's ‌signoff.

The agreement will state how to address Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which will be among the first issues discussed during the 60-day window, according to an earlier report by Axios, which broke the news.

The White House declined to comment. The reports prompted oil prices to reverse course and trade lower on hopes of a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for roughly a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supply.

But Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to Tehran's negotiating team, said the text had not been finalised and Iran would inform mediator Pakistan if and when it had been agreed.

Iranian sources cited by local media also said a deal would only be complete when announced by Tehran, not unilaterally by Trump.

Trump has repeatedly said the end of the war is close but told media at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday he was not yet satisfied by the negotiations and that the US was not discussing easing sanctions, ​one of Tehran's demands.

The latest attacks, while limited, highlighted the fragility of negotiations to turn the tenuous early-April ceasefire into a lasting agreement to end the three-month-old war – which has killed thousands – and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz.

US Central ‌Command said US forces had shot down five Iranian attack drones and ​struck a ground control station in the port city of Bandar Abbas that was about to ​launch a sixth. Kuwaiti forces had then intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the country, which hosts a large US base.

“These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” a US official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about military operations, told Reuters earlier.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted the US base responsible for an early-morning attack near Bandar Abbas airport and that any repeat would lead to a“more decisive response”, Tasnim news agency reported. To Page 11

Kuwait condemned the attack and demanded that Iran immediately halt what it called a serious escalation. The violence, the second flare-up this week, coincided with Eid al-Adha celebrated across the region, where multiple countries have been caught up in the conflict triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran on ‌February 28.

Mediator Pakistan said its foreign minister, ‌Ishaq Dar, would meet US Secretary of State Marco ⁠Rubio in Washington today, although the significance of his visit was unclear.

The US warned Oman yesterday not to get involved in any effort to impose a ​toll in the Strait of Hormuz, saying it will penalise any partners involved in such a system.

“Oman, in particular, should know that the US Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved - directly or indirectly - in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalised,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on X. Trump said that no single country would have control over the waterway, and appeared to threaten Oman, with which the US has decades-long military and economic ties.

“It's international waters, and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we'll have to blow them up. They understand that, they'll be fine,” he said on Wednesday.

Oman has not mentioned the idea of joint control of the strait with Iran, with ‌which it says it has ​discussed freedom of navigation. Tehran expressed solidarity with Oman after what it called“US officials' threats”.

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