US and Iranian negotiators reach tentative deal to extend ceasefire and
start new nuclear talks
[May 29, 2026]
By AAMER MADHANI, JON GAMBRELL, MICHELLE L. PRICE and SAM
METZ
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative
agreement Thursday to extend the ceasefire in the 3-month-old war by 60
days and start a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program, according
to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
Iran did not immediately confirm any deal. Vice President JD Vance on
Thursday evening confirmed there was a tentative agreement, but said it
was unclear if President Donald Trump would approve it.
“It’s hard to say exactly when or if the president’s going to sign,"
Vance told reporters.
He added: “We’re going back and forth on a couple of language points.”
The emerging memorandum of understanding came as the fragile ceasefire
in the war between the U.S. and Iran appeared to be wavering. The latest
flare-up in fighting happened less than a day earlier, when Kuwait
intercepted missiles fired from Iran, according to U.S. Central Command.
Proposal addresses Strait of Hormuz
The memorandum makes clear that Iran will not be able to impose tolls on
the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran will have to remove all mines from
the vital waterway within 30 days, according to the official, who was
not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
During the war, Iran has effectively closed the strait, which had been
the conduit for about a fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas.
Its closure has sent oil prices skyrocketing around the world. U.S.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted Thursday at a news briefing
that the cost of oil could “come down very quickly” once a deal is
finalized.
Iran has said it's letting some commercial vessels pass — about two
dozen daily in recent days, compared with more than 100 a day before the
war — but the Islamic Republic also has charged tolls for at least some
ships. It set up a formal gatekeeper agency earlier this month, spurring
a new round of U.S. sanctions this week.
Under the tentative agreement, the U.S. would gradually lift its naval
blockade on Iranian ports and would also agree to relax sanctions,
allowing Iran to sell more of its oil.
Yet even as word of the potential deal emerged, the U.S. Treasury
Department imposed additional sanctions on the Iranian military's oil
sales arm. The new penalties, first reported by The Associated Press,
extend the Trump administration’s economic pressure campaign on the
Islamic Republic.
Details of the tentative pact were first reported by the news outlet
Axios.
Nuclear issue remains unresolved
Among the first issues to be negotiated during the 60-day ceasefire is
what will happen to Iran’s highly enriched uranium, the first official
said. The Islamic Republic has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium
that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from
weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic
Energy Agency.
Vance suggested on Thursday evening that negotiators were trying to
strike general terms on the highly enriched uranium settled in the
tentative agreement, with the specifics to be hammered out in the
ensuing talks.
Vance said the continued back and forth involved “a couple of issues on
the nuclear stuff, the highly enriched stockpile, and also the question
of enrichment.”
Iran has not publicly committed to giving up the stockpile. It is
believed to buried under a trio of nuclear sites that were badly damaged
by U.S. airstrikes last year.
Nuclear analysts have said that Iran might consider China or Russia,
which have close relations with Tehran, to be a potential acceptable
third party to take possession of the enriched uranium. But Trump said
Wednesday that he “wouldn’t be comfortable” with such a plan.
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A woman rides a bicycle as others cross a street in downtown Tehran,
Iran, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Though Trump and his team said from the start of the conflict that one
of their prime objectives was to ensure that Iran can never have a
nuclear weapon, Vance framed the war's accomplishments as something far
less definitive.
“We’re in a position where we could substantially set back their nuclear
program, not just during the term of this president but over the long
term,” Vance said. "That’s a very very good thing for the American
people.”
Iran, which has long maintained its program is peaceful, has insisted
that any deal must include an end to Israel’s military operations in
Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. Tensions
deepened Thursday in Lebanon as Israel conducted an airstrike on a
southern suburb of the capital, Beirut, and other strikes in the
southern coastal city of Tyre. At least 14 people were killed across the
country’s south.
Kuwait reports an attack
Kuwait announced that its air-defense systems intercepted incoming
missiles and drones on Thursday, without detailing what had been
targeted. Iran said it had retaliated for strikes earlier in the week by
firing on a U.S. base in a Gulf state it did not name.
The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry condemned Iran for what it called “blatant
aggression," and U.S. Central Command called the attack on one of
America’s top allies in the Persian Gulf an “egregious ceasefire
violation.” Kuwait repeatedly came under fire from Iran and
Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq before the April ceasefire began.
The exchange took place after U.S. officials said late Wednesday that
American forces launched more strikes on Iran, shooting down four
one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the strait and hitting
an Iranian ground-control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to
launch a fifth drone.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged the attack around
Bandar Abbas International Airport and said via the state-run IRNA news
agency that it launched a retaliatory attack on the air base that
launched the assaults. The Revolutionary Guard did not specify whether
the response targeted Kuwait, which houses U.S. Army Central’s forward
headquarters, air bases and a naval base.
On Monday, the U.S. said it conducted what the Pentagon called
“self-defense” strikes on missile launch sites and minelaying boats in
southern Iran.
Although they have traded strikes and accusations of ceasefire
violations, Washington and Tehran have not returned to full-scale
hostilities and keep negotiating.
Vance said that, “Ceasefires are always a little messy” but it’s “very
much holding."
Later Thursday, Iran's defenses destroyed “a hostile aircraft” around
the southern city of Jam, the area's governor, Masood Tangestani, told
state broadcaster IRIB. No other information was immediately available.
___
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Metz reported from
Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin and
Matthew Lee in Washington and Jennifer Peltz and Farnoush Amiri in New
York contributed to this report.
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