{"text":[[{"start":10.05,"text":"Donald Trump said a deal between the US and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and extend a ceasefire was “now complete”, as he promised to lift a weeks-long naval blockade on Iranian ports."}],[{"start":22.35,"text":"“With the opening of the Strait upon the signing of the Deal on Friday, for purposes of mine removal, oil will flow on both ends again for the Region, and the World!” the US president said on social media."}],[{"start":34.95,"text":"Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the text of the memorandum of understanding was finalised, adding that the official signing ceremony would take place on Friday in Switzerland."}],[{"start":46.800000000000004,"text":"He added that “an immediate and permanent end to the war and military operations on various fronts, including Lebanon, will be announced starting tonight”."}],[{"start":56.550000000000004,"text":"Pakistan and Qatar, the lead mediators, confirmed the deal. "}],[{"start":61.25000000000001,"text":"“With the agreement now in place, mediators will facilitate a series of meetings this week,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on X. “These pre-implementation discussions will lay the foundation for the technical talks and the official signing ceremony.”"}],[{"start":77.10000000000001,"text":"Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, fell nearly 4 per cent to $83.92 a barrel after the start of trading on Sunday evening and was $83.78 a barrel in early Asian trade. US stock futures jumped. S&P 500 futures opened 0.7 per cent, while Nasdaq 100 futures opened 0.8 per cent."}],[{"start":99.55000000000001,"text":"If the agreement is implemented, it should begin to ease a global energy crisis and lay the foundations for a permanent end to the more than 100-day war. "}],[{"start":109.05000000000001,"text":"The diplomatic progress comes after a week of frantic activity by regional mediators amid clashes that threatened to plunge the adversaries back into a full-blown conflict."}],[{"start":119.85000000000001,"text":"The apparent breakthrough came hours after Trump berated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following an Israeli strike against Hizbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Israel said it was responding after Hizbollah fired drones at northern Israel."}],[{"start":137.55,"text":"The US president said the Israeli strike on Sunday, which threatened to derail his push for a deal, “should not have happened”, adding that while Israel has a right to defend itself, the attack it was responding to “was very small and meaningless”."}],[{"start":151.85000000000002,"text":"After the US and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28, it rapidly spread across the Middle East as the Islamic republic responded by firing barrages of missiles and drones at Washington’s Gulf allies. The conflict pushed up oil and gas prices to years-long highs and severely disrupted trade and tourism across the region. "}],[{"start":174.75000000000003,"text":"Pakistan and Qatar have been leading mediation efforts to extend an April 8 ceasefire by 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and secure an agreement on the framework for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme. "}],[{"start":188.00000000000003,"text":"The Israeli strike on Beirut came as Qatari negotiators were in Tehran on Sunday, in co-ordination with the US, to help finalise the agreement."}],[{"start":196.70000000000002,"text":"The mediators left Tehran after 17 hours of intensive negotiations, a diplomat briefed on the talks said. Preparatory meetings with each side will take place in Doha this week ahead of the official signing in Switzerland and the start of the technical talks, the diplomat said."}],[{"start":213.05,"text":"Under the terms of the deal the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has in effect closed since the US and Israel first launched strikes on February 28, would be gradually reopened as Iranian forces clear mines during the first 30 days. Iran would not charge a toll during the 60-day period. "}],[{"start":231.25,"text":"The US would also lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports. "}],[{"start":236.15,"text":"Iran would reaffirm that it would not procure or develop nuclear weapons. Tehran and Washington would hold talks on how to dispose of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium under an agreed mechanism, a person briefed on the matter said."}],[{"start":250.1,"text":"The minimum commitment would be for all uranium to be diluted on-site under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran has a stockpile of more than 9,000kg of enriched uranium."}],[{"start":262.85,"text":"Most of it is at low enrichment levels, but 440kg is enriched to near weapons-grade. Tehran has always insisted its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes."}],[{"start":275.6,"text":"People briefed on the talks have said any sanctions relief for Iran, including the unfreezing of its assets held overseas, would be phased and dependent on the progress of the nuclear talks, which would begin once the memorandum of understanding had been signed. "}],[{"start":291.40000000000003,"text":"But the US would grant Iran a waiver to sell oil for the duration of the 60-day ceasefire extension, one person briefed on the talks said."}],[{"start":299.85,"text":"Reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas normally passes, has been one of Trump’s priorities. Its closure has triggered the worst global energy crisis in decades and pushed up American fuel prices ahead of November’s midterm elections. "}],[{"start":315.55,"text":"The Israeli-Hizbollah conflict became a complicating factor for the diplomatic push for a US-Iran deal, with Tehran insisting it should be part of the agreement, which Netanyahu has resisted."}],[{"start":326.6,"text":"After Israel’s strike on Beirut, Trump said on Truth Social: “We are very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including Lebanon, and all sides should stand down. This could be the beginning of a long and beautiful peace — Let’s not blow it!”"}],[{"start":342.45000000000005,"text":"The US president also said there should be no more attacks by Israel “anywhere in Lebanon”."}],[{"start":348.40000000000003,"text":"The deal includes a call for an end to all regional hostilities, including the Israeli-Hizbollah war. "}],[{"start":355.20000000000005,"text":"Additional reporting by Kate Duguid in New York and Verity Ratcliffe in London"}],[{"start":369.55000000000007,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1781484519_3712.mp3"}