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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the Pasdaran, claim that 25 ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the last 24 hours
Tehran, draft agreement envisages possibly US withdrawal from region
Iran has obtained a preliminary draft of the so-called ‘Islamabad Accord’, the memorandum of understanding still being negotiated between Tehran and Washington to end the war and reduce tensions in the region. This is reported by Iranian TV, pointing out that nothing has been finalised yet and Iran continues to have a deep distrust of the United States. Among the main points of the draft, Washington would commit to easing restrictions on Iranian maritime traffic, as well as withdrawing part of its military forces from areas surrounding Iran, although the details of the possible redeployment still remain vague and subject to negotiation. In return, Tehran would restore trade traffic in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman to pre-conflict levels within a month. The Strait of Hormuz, however, would not be completely reopened: control and management of the transit would remain in the hands of Iran in coordination with Oman, while US naval vessels would be excluded from the deal. The draft also stipulates that any final agreement could receive the binding support of the UN Security Council within 60 days. Tehran finally made it clear that any implementation would depend on a ‘concrete verification’ of US commitments and that the talks could still fail.
Iran, draft agreement: ‘If final will be approved by UN resolution’
If Iran and the United States reach a final agreement within 60 days, the understanding will be approved in the form of a binding UN Security Council resolution. This is according to the draft of an initial, unofficial framework agreement for a memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States obtained by Iranian state TV.
The three reasons why the Iranian regime turned the Internet back on
After almost ninety days of almost total blackout, Iran has begun to partially reopen access to the global network. This decision came at the behest of President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to Iranian state media reports. Having said that the reactivation, at least for now, seems to be limited and controlled (traffic remains well below normal levels and the reopening mainly concerns some urban fixed networks, particularly in the Tehran area), the big question accompanying this news is only one: why now?
According to several analysts, this choice is a tactical decision by the regime, driven by three main reasons. The first and most important one is economic.
