Following President Trump's announcement that a US-Iran deal is near, journalist Barak Betesh (i24NEWS) assesses that the odds of Iran agreeing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz immediately upon signing, without the release of frozen assets or the lifting of the blockade, are negligible. The assessment offers a skeptical counterpoint to recent White House optimism on a 60-day ceasefire framework.
In a brief commentary posted Thursday evening, journalist Barak Betesh (i24NEWS) offered a sharp counterpoint to the White House's recent optimism on a nuclear and ceasefire deal with Iran. According to Betesh, the likelihood that Tehran would agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz immediately at the signing of an initial 60-day ceasefire — without the release of frozen Iranian assets or the lifting of the U.S. blockade — is essentially zero.
The assessment follows a series of Trump administration statements over the past 48 hours asserting that a preliminary agreement is close. As The Zioneer reported from 08:39 Jerusalem on June 12, President Trump said the US and Iran were near a 60-day ceasefire deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz without shipping tolls. A senior White House official later estimated an 85% probability of a deal being signed, terming it a nuclear agreement. The administration has not publicly specified the sequencing of sanctions relief versus Hormuz reopening.
Betesh's analysis — while a single-source opinion — identifies a core tension in the emerging framework: Iran's stated demand for sanctions relief and asset unfreezing as a precondition versus the Trump administration's position that certain restrictions (blockade, asset freeze) remain leverage until a final agreement is implemented. The commentary does not cite specific Iranian sources or internal negotiating documents. No direct Iranian response to Betesh's claim has been reported.
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- StrongIranian source: Strait of Hormuz reopening to begin Friday after MoU signing
Source and signal
- Internal intake