A MART脥NEZ, HOST:
President Trump signed the agreement with Iran intended to end the war and get oil flowing again through the Strait of Hormuz.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The United States says it is prepared to lift decades of sanctions, potentially allowing hundreds of billions of dollars to flow to Iran. In return, Iran repeats its promise never to build a nuclear weapon, a promise Iran has made for decades and that U.S. officials usually have not believed. The idea now is to spend 60 days negotiating terms to back up that promise.
MART脥NEZ: Coming up, we'll hear from one of the negotiators of the last Iran nuclear deal. But to break down the agreement now in hand, we're joined by NPR's Greg Myre in Tel Aviv. So, Greg, there was supposed to be a big U.S.-Iran signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday. What changed?
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Yeah. We got a last-minute surprise. Trump and Iran's president signed the formal agreement Wednesday. Iran's leader did it in his home country. Trump did it at the French palace of Versailles. Now, we know Trump is enamored with such opulence, but historically, this is where a treaty ending World War I was signed, a treaty ultimately considered a failure. So there's no need for that ceremony planned Friday in Switzerland, though we are hearing the U.S. and Iran may go ahead and meet and just start working on the final agreement that still needs to happen.
MART脥NEZ: OK. So I saw that President Trump spoke at length about the deal and also took questions from reporters. What jumped out at you?
MYRE: Yeah. Many things, A. I'll just mention two. First, was Trump's language. He said he didn't want to be another Herbert Hoover, the president who presided over the Great Depression. He also said oil supplies would be depleted in another four weeks if the war had gone on. So remember, in the early days of the war, Trump was calling for Iran's unconditional surrender. Now he says he's ending it to avert an economic catastrophe. And second, this deal is designed to end the war, yet Trump was still using belligerent language, saying he reserves the right to resume the war.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If I don't like it, if they don't behave, we'll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head.
MYRE: And he talked about bombing Iran a half dozen times at this press conference.
MART脥NEZ: All right. So what should we be on the lookout for first out of this agreement?
MYRE: Yeah. The Strait of Hormuz opening. Everybody wants this, perhaps Iran, most of all - it needs to export oil for its crippled economy. So there may be logistical issues like clearing Iranian mines, for example, but everyone is expected to look for solutions, not create problems here.
MART脥NEZ: President Trump says Iran's nuclear program is the most important issue. So how are those negotiations shaping up?
MYRE: Yeah. This is going to be the hardest issue to resolve. And the memorandum says both sides will freeze in place as they negotiate. Iran won't work on its nuclear program. The U.S. won't impose more sanctions. But there's a lot of tough issues here, and the most important is what happens to nearly 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium. These negotiations are supposed to last 60 days, but that deadline can be extended.
MART脥NEZ: All right. So what else can the U.S. and Iran expect out of this preliminary deal?
MYRE: Well, the U.S. is getting two things it had before the war - the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an Iranian promise not to have a nuclear weapon. This raises a key question. What did the U.S. gain from this war? Well, Iran has a lot to gain. Iran can now sell its oil freely. This is a huge, immediate benefit, and a final agreement would call for the lifting of all U.S. and U.N. sanctions. Now, that's a big if, but the U.S. has squeezed Iran since the 1979 revolution there with all sorts of punitive measures. For the first time, Iran could begin to operate without all these restrictions.
MART脥NEZ: That's NPR's Greg Myre in Tel Aviv. Greg, thanks.
MYRE: Sure thing, A. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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