US releases details of the MoU with Iran

[00:00:00]Okay, US officials have just released details of the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, which is due to be signed by Friday.

[00:00:08]Now, the agreement says, in part, the US and Iran and their allies declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon. The US undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least $300 for the reconstruction of Iran. The US further undertakes to terminate all types of sanctions against Iran, including the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

[00:00:38]Under the deal, the US is going to begin the removal of its naval blockade. The US further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of Iran within 30 days. While Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons, the two countries also agree to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to Iran's nuclear deal.

[00:01:01]Uh, Donald Trump says that deal could be signed shortly, after which technical discussions on Iran's nuclear stockpile will begin immediately. And he clarified Iran can only have access to the $300 fund, quote, only if they're doing things right. He made those comments at a news conference on the sidelines of a G7 summit in France.

[00:01:23]>> On Sunday, we reached an agreement with Iran that achieves everything we set out to accomplish, everything and much more.

[00:01:31]Ending the current conflict, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and preventing Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon. That's what it was all about. That was about 99%.

[00:01:44]Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. They can't develop it, buy it. They can never have a nuclear weapon.

[00:01:51]>> On the basis of what we know so far, Alan, it looks as though the US appears to be giving Iran a tremendous amount on the basis that Iran will simply promise to do what it has always done, which is not to develop any nuclear weapons. How do you think this is going down in the US?

[00:02:08]>> Well, of course, it it's just been made public and we're beginning to see reaction on social media. A lot of people who would be considered allies, supporters of Donald Trump, are hugely critical. They say that this is an American defeat. They don't understand why Donald Trump would agree to this.

[00:02:26]That comes with the caveat that Donald Trump has said if he doesn't get the deal that he wants with the 60-day negotiation, that could go on. Both sides can mutually agree to extend that.

[00:02:36]Then he will resort to bombing again.

[00:02:39]Uh but many people don't understand exactly what the United States is getting out of this. Remember when he started the war on the 28th of February, he talked about regime change. And now he'll argue that there is a different regime, but the pockets of power are still the same. He urged the Iranian people to rise up and take control. That hasn't happened. And of course, he said that he wanted to end their support for proxies, which he described as terrorists, and also their missile program. That hasn't been addressed. It will be, says the memorandum of understanding, but the first issue, the most important issue, is going to be the nuclear program. But in the meantime, a lot of Iranian assets are going to be unfrozen. Some of the limits that have been put on the export of Iranian oil by the United States is going to be lifted.

[00:03:28]The Strait of Hormuz will be toll-free only for 60 days and of course, the Iranians have been talking with the Omanis about charging so-called service fees. So now it could become expensive for some ships to transfer through the Strait of Hormuz. Marco Rubio said that that would be unacceptable. There are many Republicans who don't see this as a win. There are some who support Donald Trump. They say that only he could have gotten this deal, but there are many more who are deeply critical. Just one other thing, Donald Trump said one of the drivers for getting this deal was the economy. He's talking about how the stock market has increased, and it has.

[00:04:06]How the oil price has come down, and it has. But there are many people very angry that the economy would be something that he would consider given that this was all about a threat, not just to those in the Middle East, but also to the United States itself.

[00:04:21]>> Yeah, and one of the interesting things about this is this plan we were talking about, $300 billion that's going to be released by regional partners in order to redevelop parts of Iran as a result the destruction as a result of the war that the US and Israel began.

[00:04:39]This is something that is going to cause problems, I would imagine, for Donald Trump in the way that he describes this, because if I understand it correctly, Alan, this is money that is Iran's to begin with and had been frozen as assets. And of course, Donald Trump criticized the Obama administration for doing exactly what it appears as though is going to happen now. Back in 2015 after the JCPOA, releasing Iranian cash back to the Iranians.

[00:05:05]>> Well, Jared Kushner has been doing the rounds of the American TV stations over the last 24 48 hours, and he's obviously been asked about the deal. And he has said, "Look, the money will be released as the Iranians meet targets." And from my first reading of the memorandum of understanding, that absolutely seems to be the case that there are benchmarks that have to be met, and then more money will be released. But let me read you something that a Republican has sent to me. He said, "We've heard about the memorandum of understanding, and we were told that what was likely to be in it.

[00:05:38]This is not as bad as expected.

[00:05:41]It's worse, much worse. And so, they believe that this was not a good deal, that Donald Trump essentially spent close to a billion dollars on weapons, bombed Iran, alienated support in the Middle East, perhaps upset a number of allies including the Europeans. And the deal that they got, according to one Republican, is worse than the deal that Obama negotiated. As you say, Donald Trump will be stung by criticism that this is a worse deal than Obama got. But he believes that as he said in his news conference, this is about building a wall. He said, "Obama gave them a road to a nuclear weapon.

[00:06:23]This is building a wall. They will not get there." And so the next 60 days become very important after the memorandum of understanding is signed.

[00:06:32]Diddy Vance will lead the US delegation.

[00:06:36]But with 60 days to get a deal done, the clock will be ticking a great deal louder knowing the criticism back home for what appears to be this memorandum of understanding and what many Republicans fear is a victory for Iran.

[00:06:52]>> That's our chief US correspondent Alan Fisher live at the White House there.

[00:06:55]Alan, thank you very much indeed.