An initial agreement was reached between the United States and Iran on Monday to cease the hostilities in West Asia, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and extend a fragile ceasefire, but significant challenges remain, including whether Israel would pause its offensive in Lebanon and how the highly enriched uranium would be destroyed.
Timeline and looming hurdles
If things remain on track and Washington and Tehran sign the agreement as scheduled on Friday in Switzerland, negotiators will face an uphill task of resolving issues between the two nations against the backdrop of a trust deficit and hostility, and that too in 60 days.
Mobilizing specialized expertise
Since the issues involve destroying uranium stockpiles and other highly complex tasks, specialists with knowledge of military expertise, international law, and the nuclear technology domain would be involved in the two months to work on the agreement.
Key provisions of the memorandum
As per the memorandum of understanding reached between the US and Iran, negotiators will have to agree to remove mines from the Strait of Hormuz, discuss Iranian frozen assets, monitor and restrict Tehran’s nuclear programme in cooperation with the United Nations watchdog, limit uranium enrichment, and extract the stockpile buried deep in Iranian soil.
Global collaboration and internal opposition
Iran and the US may also have to mend their differences with major powers like China, European nations and Russia in order to utilise their expertise and technical capabilities required to resolve the impending issues in the agreement.
All this development needs to take place with opposition from Israel for the deal and hardline factions in Iran and other critics in America. The agreement’s details are yet to be released, but it appears that it would not be implemented until the deal is signed.
According to the mediator Pakistan, the deal is scheduled to be signed in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday. Till then, the shipping is poised to remain affected in the Hormuz, which is a crucial passage for 20 percent of the global oil and gas supply.
A man rides a scooter past a giant billboard that shows the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. (AP Photo) 
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