Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at U.S.-Iran peace deal conditions, a potential U.S. trade deal with India, and China\u2019s efforts to combat dollar dominance.<\/p>\n
14 Points to End the War<\/p>\n
U.S. President Donald Trump oscillated on Wednesday between praising the Iran peace deal and threatening to resume bombing if Tehran does not adequately implement the agreement\u2019s conditions. \u201cIt\u2019s a memorandum of understanding,\u201d Trump told reporters at the G-7 leaders\u2019 summit in the French Alps. \u201cIf [a final deal] doesn\u2019t get done in 60 days, that\u2019s all right. We go back to bombing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at U.S.-Iran peace deal conditions, a potential U.S. trade deal with India, and China\u2019s efforts to combat dollar dominance.<\/p>\n
14 Points to End the War<\/p>\n
U.S. President Donald Trump oscillated on Wednesday between praising the Iran peace deal and threatening to resume bombing if Tehran does not adequately implement the agreement\u2019s conditions. \u201cIt\u2019s a memorandum of understanding,\u201d Trump told reporters at the G-7 leaders\u2019 summit in the French Alps. \u201cIf [a final deal] doesn\u2019t get done in 60 days, that\u2019s all right. We go back to bombing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S.-Iran deal is still set to be formally signed in Geneva on Friday, but a senior U.S. official disclosed the 14-point draft<\/a> to several U.S. media outlets on Wednesday as Trump held a news conference about it. (Later on Wednesday, Iranian state media also posted<\/a> the official text.)<\/p>\n Among the text\u2019s main points, the deal declares an \u201cimmediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts,\u201d including in Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah continue to fight. Lebanese state media reported<\/a> fresh Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday in response to two Hezbollah drone attacks on Israeli troops in the area. The Israeli military said<\/a> the drones injured five soldiers, one of whom is in serious condition.<\/p>\n G-7 leaders released a joint statement<\/a> on Wednesday championing recent efforts to impose \u201can immediate robust ceasefire\u201d in Lebanon. However, Trump took it a step further, delivering a rare rebuke<\/a> of Israel\u2019s actions in that conflict. \u201cI think they could do better with respect to Hezbollah,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI am not saying they should not protect themselves. I am saying when two drones are shot into the desert and dropped harmlessly, you do not have to knock down buildings in Beirut.\u201d<\/p>\n That was not Trump\u2019s only statement likely to anger Israel. During his G-7 press conference, Trump said<\/a> that Iran should be allowed to keep some of its ballistic missiles. \u201cI mean, they have to have some, because other people have some,\u201d Trump said. Contrasting them to nuclear weapons, he added, \u201cMissiles aren\u2019t the problem. Missiles, they hurt a little location, but they don\u2019t blow up the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n Ending the conflict in Lebanon, though, is just the first of the memorandum of understanding\u2019s (MoU\u2019s) 14 points. Here are some of the other key elements, as reportedly described by a senior U.S. official:<\/p>\n The United States commits to ending the naval blockade on Iran commensurate with Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz; Trump defended the deal\u2019s conditions on Wednesday, particularly the controversial decision to return Iran\u2019s frozen funds. \u201cIt\u2019s their money, and we froze it,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAt a certain point in time, I guess we have to give it back.\u201d<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Most Read<\/p>\n What We\u2019re Following<\/p>\n Improving ties. Trump said<\/a> on Wednesday that the United States is \u201cvery close\u201d to finalizing a trade deal with India. \u201cWe\u2019ve been there for a little while, and he\u2019s a very tough negotiator, one of the toughest, actually,\u201d Trump said of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-7 summit, adding that he plans to visit New Delhi at some point.<\/p>\n The two countries agreed to a preliminary trade deal<\/a> in February, but its finalization was delayed by the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s ruling just days later that struck down most of Trump\u2019s tariffs. India\u2019s ambassador to the United States, Vinay Kwatra, told FP\u2019s Rishi Iyengar<\/a> last week that since the ruling, India has \u201ccontinued our engagement with the U.S. in true earnest with the objective of concluding the deal at the earliest possible moment.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the two countries hit a rough patch recently after the U.S. military launched strikes on a commercial oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month, killing three Indian seafarers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Still, Trump claimed<\/a> on Wednesday that the two leaders have a \u201cgreat relationship\u201d and that the United States would defend India if it was targeted. \u201cIf anybody attacks that man, we\u2019re going to be there,\u201d Trump said, though he added that \u201cif there\u2019s a new leader, I\u2019m not sure about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Yuan vs. dollar. China\u2019s central bank unveiled<\/a> measures on Wednesday that aim to make yuan-denominated assets more appealing to foreign investors. Under the new initiatives, the People\u2019s Bank of China will allow overseas central banks and financial organizations to obtain yuan liquidity against Chinese government bonds, and it will move toward an overnight policy-rate framework similar to how the U.S. Federal Reserve and other Western central banks function.<\/p>\n By deepening China\u2019s control over short-term money markets, Beijing is hoping to transform<\/a> the yuan into a global reserve currency that rivals the U.S. dollar. \u201cChina has sought to internationalize its currency for at least the past 15 years and has built the infrastructure to prove it,\u201d Henry Tugendhat wrote<\/a> in Foreign Policy last May. \u201cBut what it ultimately cannot control is who buys or uses the yuan.\u201d<\/p>\n Until recently, foreign investors remained hesitant to use the yuan, preferring other currencies before relying on China\u2019s. However, some experts argue that the Iran war may have upended<\/a> this status quo and helped the yuan gain traction. Conflict in the Middle East is a potential \u201ccatalyst for erosion in petrodollar dominance,\u201d Germany\u2019s Deutsche Bank<\/a> said.<\/p>\n Right-wing popularity. Support for Australia\u2019s right-wing One Nation party is reportedly growing, as party leader Pauline Hanson blames<\/a> the ruling Labor government\u2019s immigration policies for fueling rising prices. \u201cUndeniably, immigration or migration policy has our country in the state of crisis,\u201d Hanson told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday. \u200b\u201cAt the center of this crisis is the utterly flawed policy of multiculturalism.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, nearly 33 percent of the country\u2019s population was born abroad. Hanson argued<\/a> on Wednesday that this influx of migrants has raised housing prices and worsened Canberra\u2019s affordability crisis. \u201cWe cannot be a \u200bmulticultural society,\u201d Hanson said. \u201cWe are a multiracial society. But we must be monocultural.\u201d<\/p>\n Adding fuel to the fire<\/a>, Hanson warned of \u201cradical Islam,\u201d refused to begin her speech with a customary acknowledgment of Australia\u2019s Indigenous communities, and vowed to eliminate the country\u2019s Special Broadcasting Service if she wins the next federal election.<\/p>\n One Nation was long seen as a fringe group. But Hanson\u2019s growing popularity has bolstered the party\u2019s standing, with one local opinion poll<\/a> reporting on Monday that Hanson has now overtaken Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as Australians\u2019 top choice for the premiership. Experts have compared her party\u2019s rise to Trump\u2019s MAGA movement and Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK successes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Odds and Ends<\/p>\n
\nThe United States agrees to work with regional partners \u201cto develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion\u201d for Iran\u2019s reconstruction and economic development;
\nImmediately upon the MoU\u2019s signing, the U.S. Treasury Department \u201cwill issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurances, transportation,\u00a0etc.\u201d;
\nIran \u201creaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons\u201d;
\nIran\u2019s stockpile of enriched uranium will be dealt with under terms that will be worked out as part of a final deal, \u201cwith the minimum methodology to be down-blending on site under the supervision of\u201d the International Atomic Energy Agency, though other enrichment matters will also be discussed as part of negotiations for a final deal;
\nAnd the United States will \u201cmake fully available for use\u201d Iran\u2019s frozen or restricted funds and assets upon implementation of the MoU.<\/p>\n