LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Vice President JD Vance is headed to Switzerland this Friday to sign a tentative deal to end the war with Iran.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
But the details are still unknown, even to Israel, America’s partner in this war. So while the two went into this war together, how to end it is driving a wedge between them.
FADEL: Joining us to discuss this and more is NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy, who is in Cairo. Good morning.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So this agreement is being signed on Friday. And, Aya, I feel like I’ve been asking this since we first reported on it at the beginning of the week. Is there any more clarity on what is actually being agreed to here?
BATRAWY: Well, Iran is giving some indications of what this really centers on, and it’s three main points. They say the first is ending the war. The second is that Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz again for commercial shipping. And the third is that the U.S. would end its blockade of Iranian ports. And Iran says that already this week, ships have been reaching Iranian ports ever since this deal was announced.
Now, Iran also says that this is a 1 1/2-page memorandum of understanding, and that after it is signed on Friday, the two sides will sit down for talks on Iran’s nuclear program and U.S. sanctions. And for those talks, Vance will be sitting across from Iran’s chief negotiator, who is Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. He’s a senior politician and a former commander in the Revolutionary Guard.
FADEL: OK. Beyond Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz, which, by the way, was fully opened before this war to oil tankers and ships, what do you know about what each side gets here?
BATRAWY: So Vance has been on a media blitz, pitching this as a good deal. He says Iran will dilute its highly enriched uranium and never be able to build a nuclear weapon. And Trump continues to say that once the Strait of Hormuz is open, gas prices in the U.S. will plummet. But Iran says it is getting money – a lot under this deal. Iranian media say $12 billion in frozen assets will be released in the initial phase of the coming 60-day period, and that billions more will come as nuclear talks progress. But Vance says Iranians won’t see any money until they’ve changed their behavior, but he hasn’t denied that Iranian funds will be unlocked in this deal.
FADEL: You know, Israel and the United States started this war together. Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. told NPR on this show yesterday that Israel doesn’t even know what’s in this agreement. So how is that going to affect talks?
BATRAWY: It’s important to remember, Leila, that Trump and every country in this region, from Egypt to Pakistan to the Gulf Arab states to Turkey – they all want this war to end except for Israel. This is hurting their economies. But Iran insists that any ceasefire agreement has to include Israel’s war in Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah. And last night, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard issued a warning saying that if Israel does not stop those attacks in Lebanon, it should expect a harsh response from Iran. And Iran also says that the first clause of that deal being signed on Friday, says that attacks on Lebanon will be halted. But that hasn’t happened yet. And look, this is a major wedge issue now between Israel and the U.S. Trump has admitted to cursing at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in calls, and you can hear his frustration yesterday in comments he made at the G7 summit in France.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’ll tell you what, Israel’s fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed. And you don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses, and they’re not all Hezbollah. That I can tell you.
BATRAWY: But these wars are popular in Israel, Leila, and Netanyahu faces elections this year, and it’s important that he demonstrates Israel’s policies are not being dictated by the White House. And he says Israel will remain in Lebanon for as long as necessary. But Iran says it views any continued occupation of Lebanon as a violation of this initial agreement.
FADEL: That’s NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy in Cairo. Thank you, Aya.
BATRAWY: Thanks, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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