US and Iranian negotiators reach tentative deal to extend ceasefire and launch nuclear talks

The emerging memorandum of understanding came as the fragile ceasefire in the US-Iran war appeared to be faltering.

The latest flare-up of fighting came less than a day earlier, when Kuwait intercepted missiles fired from Iran, US Central Command said.

The official who described the tentative agreement was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another US official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private diplomacy, said the broad outlines of an agreement have been reached but stressed there is no deal until Trump signs it.

The official said there are still questions about whether Trump will accept the proposal.

Details of the preliminary pact were first reported by the news channel Axios.

Kuwait had earlier announced an attack on its territory, and Iran said it had retaliated for attacks earlier this week by firing on a US base in a Gulf state it did not name. Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry condemned Iran for what it called “blatant aggression,” and the U.S. Central Command called the attack on one of America’s most important allies in the Persian Gulf a “blatant violation of the ceasefire.”

The exchange came after U.S. officials said late Wednesday in Washington that U.S. forces launched more attacks on Iran, shooting down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz and hitting an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

Washington and Tehran have repeatedly accused each other of violating the seven-week ceasefire and have exchanged strikes throughout the week. But they have not returned to full-scale hostilities and have continued to negotiate. Trump has insisted he is confident his administration is making progress in the talks.

On Monday, the US said it had carried out what the Pentagon called “self-defence attacks” on missile launch sites and mine-laying boats in southern Iran.

After the latest US attacks, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards recognized the attack around Bandar Abbas International Airport. Iran’s military said through state news agency IRNA that it had launched a retaliatory strike on the air base that launched the strikes, without specifying whether the retaliation targeted Kuwait, which is home to the U.S. military’s forward headquarters, air bases and a naval base.

The Kuwaiti military announced Thursday that its air defense systems intercepted incoming missiles and drones, without specifying what the target was. Kuwait came under repeated fire from Iran and Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq before the April ceasefire began.

The announcement comes as the Middle East teeters on the brink and talks to end the war remain in flux.

Trump is seeking an agreement that would reopen the strait, through which about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas once passed. He is also trying to get Iran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The war was unpopular in the US, and Iran’s closure of the strait sent oil prices skyrocketing, driving up fuel prices around the world.

The Islamic Republic wants economic sanctions lifted and frozen assets released to help its devastated economy. Iran also insists that any deal must end Israel’s military operations in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

A US-brokered ceasefire took effect in Lebanon in mid-April, and Lebanese and Israeli military officials will hold their first security talks in Washington on Friday.

But the ceasefire has been tested, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning on Monday that his country was stepping up attacks after Hezbollah fired exploding fiber optic drones that struck Israeli forces in Lebanon and reached some of Israel’s northern border towns.

Tensions rose on Thursday as Israel carried out an airstrike on a southern suburb of the capital, Beirut, and other attacks in the southern coastal city of Tyre. At least fourteen people were killed in the south of the country.