The China Mail - Vance says progress made as US-Iran deal awaits Trump green light

Trump remained notably silent into Friday morning, despite US sources telling AFP a deal just needed his sign-off, underscoring the volatility of talks three months after the war rattled the Middle East and the global economy.

"It's hard to say exactly when or if the President is going to sign the MOU," Vance told reporters on Thursday. "We're going back and forth on a couple of language points. We've made a lot of progress here."

Optimism around a possible US-Iran deal boosted Asian stock markets on Friday, while oil prices receded slightly.

Energy markets have whipsawed this week as investors parse the chances of an agreement that could potentially resume normal shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

The potential deal would see shipping through the Hormuz strait be unrestricted, with no tolls or harassment, while Iran would remove mines within 30 days and the US would lift its naval blockade if commercial traffic resumes, according to US media reports.

But Iran has not confirmed any commitments to a deal, and sources have told Iranian media that any agreement unilaterally announced by Trump would not be recognised.

Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to Tehran's negotiators, also said the text had not been finalised and that key mediator Pakistan would be informed if a deal was reached.

The role of Qatar in talks has grown and the Gulf nation's state news agency said late Thursday that Trump had called its ruler to discuss the "latest updates" on efforts to end the war.

Doha hosted Iranian officials this week as regional nations push for a resolution to the US-Iran war despite a fragile ceasefire that has held since April 8.

- Truce violations -

As the backroom diplomacy continues, Washington and Tehran have accused each other of violating the truce, with US strikes on the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas this week countered by retaliatory Iranian fire.

Tehran had responded to US strikes by targeting "the American airbase that served as the source of the attack," state broadcaster IRIB reported, citing the Revolutionary Guards.

The Guards did not specify the location of the base, but Kuwait, which hosts US troops, said its air defences responded to incoming fire.

Kuwait's foreign ministry condemned "the criminal Iranian attacks that targeted the territory of the State of Kuwait with missiles and drones, in a dangerous escalation."

US Central Command called the attack an "egregious ceasefire violation."

Iranian forces also fired at four ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz without authorisation, IRIB reported Thursday. Iran has blockaded the waterway since the war began.

US forces said they had intercepted five attack drones in and around the strait, and prevented the launch of a sixth near Bandar Abbas.

A US official told AFP the actions were "measured" and "intended to preserve the ceasefire".

Iran's Guards threatened a "firm response" to any renewed attacks.

Iranian state TV said on Friday that 24 ships had transited the Strait of Hormuz in the last 24 hours, in coordination with the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian foreign ministry.

But it warned that "ships from hostile countries face a severe response" from the Iranian military.

- Lebanon castle hit -

On the war's Lebanon front, the country's culture minister told AFP on Friday that Israel had struck a medieval castle that overlooks the southern city of Nabatieh, warning that other heritage sites were in "serious danger".

"Bombings fell very close to the ruins of Tyre," a UNESCO World Heritage site, Ghassan Salame said, adding that the medieval Beaufort castle in the Nabatieh area was "directly hit".

Israeli forces used the castle, also known as Qalaat al-Chakif, as a base during their previous two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000.

A ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah was supposed to have taken effect on April 17 but has never been observed.

Both sides accuse each other of violating it and justify their attacks by the other camp's alleged breaches.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in early March when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel over the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli attacks, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion.

On Thursday Israel pounded south Lebanon with deadly strikes and widened its offensive with the first raid near Beirut in weeks, where authorities said a woman and two children were killed despite the truce.

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P.Deng--ThChM