US-Iran Deal Faces Hurdles Amid Conflicting Claims on Strait of Hormuz and Lebanon

The initial agreement between the US and Iran reached on Sunday has already faced hurdles, amid Tehran's claims that it aims to control maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz as the war's victor, and Israel insisting that it would hold onto land seized in Lebanon as it battles Hezbollah.

After Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed in televised remarks that the framework deal put an "immediate end" to the war pending a "final agreement" after another 60 days of talks, Fars news agency stated that a legal framework governing navigation in the waters of the Persian Gulf would be established through cooperation between Iran and Oman.

US President Donald Trump initially declared on Sunday that the crucial waterway had been reopened with the US naval blockade lifted. He later backtracked, saying this was pending the agreement's signing in Switzerland on Friday.

The Strait of Hormuz is some 38 kilometres wide at its narrowest, meaning both Iran and Oman operate the waterway, which normally carries one-fifth of the world's oil and LNG shipments, as well as other cargo.

Tehran has previously stated it would introduce tolls on passing ships, implying it would collect transit fees together with Oman — a claim Muscat quickly rejected, stating that no fees can be legally imposed because the Strait of Hormuz is a natural, not man-made, passage.

Iran has also published a map in late May claiming regulatory control over a stretch of the Strait of Hormuz that extends deep into the territorial waters of the UAE and Oman, prompting five Gulf states to formally warn shipping companies through the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) not to comply.

Tehran has so far pitched the announcement as a victory for the Islamic Republic, with Iranian state TV showing a banner on Sunday night asserting that “US was forced to sign an agreement to end the war.”

Islamic Republic's military operational headquarters Khatam al-Anbiya issued a separate statement on Sunday night in which it claimed that "the humiliated ... enemies have no option but to accept defeat and surrender before a people inspired by God and the soldiers of the Almighty."

"By imposing their divine and iron will upon their adversaries, they proved that there is no alternative for the enemy other than acknowledging defeat," Khatam al-Anbiya said.

Gharibabadi also stated that Iran "defeated the US in the military battlefield," adding that "Iran's armed forces will always have their hand on the trigger to confront the conspiracies of the enemies."

Israel, which took part in the opening salvo of the war on 28 February, has since said its operations would continue despite the announcement that the deal would apply across all fronts, Lebanon included.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I are pursuing a clear policy under which the IDF will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza for an unlimited period of time, in order to protect the border and Israeli communities from there against jihadist elements," Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said Monday.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich meanwhile deemed the deal announced on Sunday as "bad for Israel and for the entire free world, period."

"We will have to continue the campaign to topple the regime ourselves and in creative ways, and ensure that Iran will never have nuclear weapons," Smotrich added.

Iran has previously criticised the US and Trump for not being able to rein in Israel and its intervention against Tehran's proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.

It has also repeatedly stated that the end of hostilities in Lebanon is a precondition for a peace deal with the US, and has reiterated its stance since.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement that he spoke separately with his Turkish, Iraqi, and Egyptian counterparts on Monday to demand that Israel stop all hostilities against Lebanon.

Araghchi placed responsibility for implementing the agreement on the US and thanked the three nations for supporting the ceasefire and diplomatic efforts.

The Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah is the most powerful component of what Iran calls the Axis of Resistance — a network of armed groups across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, Houthis in Yemen and Shia militias in Iraq — that Tehran finances, arms and directs.

The network was built over decades by the IRGC's Quds Force and functions as Iran's primary instrument of regional influence.

Israel has been involved in a military intervention against Hezbollah since the early days of the Iran war, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February that resulted in the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Hezbollah launched a series of missile attacks against Israel in response to his killing, triggering the ongoing conflict.

The Israeli campaign has resulted in the deaths of 3,700 people, wounded nearly 11,500 and displaced over 1.5 million since March, according to Lebanese state officials.

The deal follows weeks of fraught negotiations and periodic threats of fresh hostilities, but its details remain unclear.

Iran's Mehr news agency reported that the US would release $12 billion (€10.3bn) in frozen assets to Iran before negotiations begin.

It quoted a 14-point "memorandum of understanding" between the two nations, which it said stipulated "the release of $24 billion (€20.6bn) in frozen Iranian assets during the 60‑day negotiation period" that begins after the framework deal is signed.

The Trump administration did not immediately comment on the details, which may prove contentious as the US presses its effort to end Tehran's nuclear ambitions and deal with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — said to have been buried by US strikes last year.

In an interview with the New York Times on Sunday, Trump said the US was still negotiating whether Tehran would suspend its enrichment for 20 years.

He hinted that he might settle for a 15-year suspension, but said he did not want to negotiate via the press.

The White House has previously rejected alleged leaked drafts of the agreement as spurious.