News Desk
WASHINGTON: The United States and Iran signalled on Friday that an agreement to end their war was close, with a senior US administration official saying both sides had agreed on a text and that Washington expected to sign an initial deal in the coming days.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that while changes to the deal were still possible, the tentative agreement showed his country had emerged stronger from the conflict. “Iran is the winner of the war with the US,” he said on state television.
Hours after those remarks, US forces shot down multiple Iranian one-way attack drones heading towards the Strait of Hormuz, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the drones had posed a threat to commercial traffic.
US Central Command later confirmed the action and said the waterway remained open for transit. Iranian news agencies reported that explosions were heard along the strait near Sirik port and Qeshm island, with residents and local officials attributing them to warning fire from Iranian forces targeting vessels attempting to cross without permission from the Revolutionary Guards’ navy.
The proposed memorandum of understanding calls for reopening the strait and lifting the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, sources on all sides of the talks said. Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme — US President Donald Trump’s stated rationale for initiating the war — would take place afterwards.
The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that the deal met Trump’s core objectives and put negotiations “in a very, very good place.”
