New details of Iran peace deal emerge as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says ‘significant progress’ has been made

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday morning that America has made ‘significant progress’ in negotiations over an Iran peace deal as new details about an agreement have emerged.

Rubio made the comment while on a visit to India on Sunday as regional officials told The Associated Press that the deal could see the Middle Eastern country give up its stash of highly enriched uranium and the Strait of Hormuz reopen. Iran has not publicly committed to giving up its uranium.

‘On the Iran situation, there will be, I believe, maybe more news coming out later today on this topic, and I’ll leave it to the president to make further announcements on it,’ Rubio said before giving a little glimpse into what the next move is. 

‘It’s suffice to say that some progress has been made, significant progress, although not final progress has been made.’ 

The US has been after Iran’s uranium stockpile in a bid to prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons and being a massive threat to the US and its allies. 

The US-Iran war broke out on February 28 following a decades-long conflict between the nations. 

Following the start of the war, the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow and vital waterway that is used as a high-volume shipping route, closed. 

It opened temporarily, but has since shut down again after the US maintained a naval blockade of Iranian ports. 

During his talk on Sunday, Rubio expressed why the Strait of Hormuz being closed has caused a great deal of tension amid ‘illegal’ activities Iran has taken part in. 

‘This is an international waterway. They [Iran] don’t own it. It’s an international waterway, and what they are doing now, is basically they are threatening to destroy commercial vessels using an international waterway. 

‘That is illegal under any concept of international law that governs us, but it’s also – if we allowed that to become normal, we would be normalizing an unacceptable status quo, and setting a dangerous precedent that could be replicated here in this region and in multiple places around the world,’ Rubio said.

According to Rubio, progress has been made over the last two days after the US and its partners in the gulf drew up an ‘outline’ that would reopen the waterway ‘without tolls’, and help in ‘addressing some of the key things that underpin what has been Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions in the past.’ 

Rubio made it clear that the ‘outline’ could be a crucial step forward in a possible peace deal with Iran, but only ‘if it works.’ 

‘Obviously, that will require full Iranian acceptance and then compliance, and it will require some future work on negotiating the details.’  

The strait’s reopening would begin to address a worldwide energy crisis sparked by the conflict. 

Prices have spiked for oil, gas and several downstream products, jolting the world economy. 

Experts say it would take several weeks or even months for shipping and prices to recover to prewar levels.

The US in recent weeks had threatened to resume its bombing campaign, which would have likely prolonged the closure and led to Iranian retaliation against Israel and US-allied energy producers in the Gulf.

On Saturday, Trump said a deal had been ‘largely negotiated,’ after calls with Israel and other regional allies. 

‘Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,’ he said on social media.

Under the potential deal, Tehran would agree to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, according to the two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.

One official, with direct knowledge of the negotiations, said how Iran would give up its highly enriched uranium would be subject to further talks during a 60-day period. Some would likely be diluted, while the rest would be transferred to a third country, potentially Russia, the official said. Russia has offered to take it.

Iran has 440.9kgs of uranium that is enriched up to 60 percent purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran said the peaceful use of nuclear science and technology is a legitimate right that it ‘will never relinquish,’ according to its embassy in India.

Trump has sought greater concessions from Iran than those required under a 2015 Obama-era agreement that the US later withdrew from under Trump.

On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told the state-run news agency that there are ‘narrowing differences’ between the Iranian and US positions, but that Iran is cautious after being attacked twice in the past year during nuclear negotiations.

Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, a key mediator, left Tehran late Saturday after more talks with Iranian officials.

Under the emerging agreement, the Strait of Hormuz would gradually reopen in parallel with the US ending its blockade of Iran’s ports, the officials said.

Twelve weeks have passed since the US and Israel attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader and other top officials. 

A ceasefire with Iran has held since April 7, though the sides have exchanged fire on occasion.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Trump that Israel maintains freedom of action against threats in all arenas, including Lebanon, according to an official familiar with the conversation. 

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The official said Trump made it clear to Netanyahu that he would not sign any final agreement without the conditions that Iran dismantle its entire nuclear program and give up all its enriched uranium.

Israel’s Science Minister Gila Gamliel, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and part of his national security cabinet, told Israel’s Army Radio that Israel is taking a ‘wait-and-see’ approach.