Here's the latest
• Drones shot down: The US military said it downed multiple Iranian drones near the Strait of Hormuz after the White House signaled optimism about a prospective agreement.
• Questions remain: Iran’s Foreign Ministry has also signaled that an agreement is close, adding an “understanding has been reached on the majority of issues.” However, what Iranian officials have said about the terms of the potential agreement differ from US descriptions.
• What’s next: A signed memorandum of understanding would trigger 60 more days of “technical” negotiations, according to a US official. While sources said a signing ceremony could be held in Switzerland in the coming days, Iran’s foreign minister suggested the signing could take place remotely.
• CNN exclusive: Getting to the highly-enriched uranium in Iran is now far more difficult and dangerous as Tehran has escalated efforts to seal off its cache in recent weeks, according to sources.
What to know about the Strait of Hormuz, a major flashpoint in the war
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said yesterday that a statement on the future control of the Strait of Hormuz could be coming “soon,” adding it will be jointly released with the Omani government.
A narrow waterway that bypasses Iran and Oman, the Strait of Hormuz is the main route for shipping crude from oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the rest of the world.
The strait has remained a major flashpoint since the start of the conflict, after it was effectively closed by Tehran following airstrikes by the US and Israel on February 28.
Iran controls the strait’s northern side. About 20 million barrels of oil, or about one-fifth of daily global production, used to flow through the strait every day, according to the US Energy Information Administration, which calls the channel a “critical oil chokepoint.”
While some producers, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have found alternative routes for their exports, around 10-12 million barrels of crude remain choked off from global markets.
The strait also carries about one-fifth of global trade in liquefied natural gas, largely from Qatar.
Iran's foreign minister says joint statement with Oman on Strait of Hormuz coming “soon”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said yesterday that a statement with regards to future control of the Strait of Hormuz should be expected “soon.”
Araghchi told the Iranian state television that the statement will be jointly released with the Omani government, per the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA). The Strait of Hormuz is situated between Iranian and Omani territory.
The comments come as a purported framework of a US-Iran agreement is said to be finalized, with its signing expected in the coming days. US officials have outlined several of the points laid out in the memorandum of understanding, including a complete reopening of the strait and lifting of a US blockade on Iranian ports along the strait.
Araghchi said that, under the agreement, the waterway would not return to how it operated before the war.
He added that the regime would not charge tolls but “service fees” for transiting the strait.
Sources: Iran escalated efforts to seal uranium cache and placed mines
In recent weeks, Iran has dramatically escalated efforts to seal off its cache of near bomb-grade uranium, deliberately collapsing tunnels and booby-trapping entrances with explosive mines, according to five sources familiar with US intelligence.
Getting to the roughly half-a-ton of highly-enriched uranium is now far more difficult, dangerous and time-consuming than it already was just a month ago, when President Donald Trump was publicly signaling that he might order the US military to seize it, the sources said.
The new fortifications by the Iranians add an additional layer of complexity to the Trump administration’s proposed deal with Tehran to remove and destroy its uranium, and the move raises questions about who will take on the dangerous task of digging it out.
Iran’s diplomatic delegation to the United Nations did not immediately return a request for comment, and the White House did not immediately reply to questions from CNN.
Trump has repeatedly stated that securing the material is a priority for the US in the ongoing negotiations to end the war and re-open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed.
And according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Friday, the two sides are inching closer to a deal that would require Iran to turn its enriched uranium over to the US.
But US and Iranian officials have offered conflicting accounts of the tentative deal, and its precise terms remain unclear.
One year ago today, a 12-day war between Iran and Israel broke out
Saturday marks one year since a 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel began — a precursor to the longer ongoing war that would kick off eight months later.
The conflict began on June 13, 2025, when Israel targeted the heart of Iran’s nuclear program and its missile capabilities — an unprecedented attack that also killed several of Iran’s most powerful figures.
The operation, called “Rising Lion,” aimed to halt what Israel said was Tehran’s rapid progress in developing nuclear weapons.
The US was not involved in Israel’s initial attack, but it entered the conflict in its second week, with President Donald Trump ordering the bombing of several Iranian nuclear sites.
Behind the scenes, the Trump administration worked furiously to find a diplomatic solution, with the Qatari government serving as mediator — finally brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Iran on June 24.
But the short-lived conflict dealt a heavy blow to Tehran. In 12 days, Iran lost most of its air defenses, missiles, launchers and plants; the echelon of its military command; and its crown jewel nuclear facilities along with its leading nuclear scientists.
CENTCOM: US downed multiple Iranian drones near Strait of Hormuz
The US military has downed multiple Iranian one-way attack drones near the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command announced Friday evening.
Iran launched several attack drones that sought to disrupt commercial shipping near the strait, CENTCOM said in a post on X.
The US military said its forces “have downed all of them in recent hours as traffic flow through the strait continues unimpeded. “
“The international trade corridor remains open for transit,” CENTCOM said.
What Iranian officials have said about a possible agreement with the US
An “understanding has been reached on the majority of issues” between the United States and Iran, according to an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson. It’s not clear yet if Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has formally signed off on the agreement.
Earlier on Friday, a senior Trump administration official echoed the optimism, but said there are still details to be worked out.
Here’s the latest on where things stand:
- Iranian government officials are in the final stages of discussing the terms of an agreement with the US, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.
- The memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran will address the regime’s nuclear program and sanctions relief, among other issues, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
- A statement with regards to future control of the Strait of Hormuz should be expected “soon,” Araghchi said. Under the agreement, the waterway would not return to how it operated before the war, according to the foreign minister, and the regime would not charge tolls but “service fees.”
- The agreement includes a resolution for the conflict of Lebanon “and all other fronts,” Araghchi said on Iranian state television.
- Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, claimed the US has agreed to release part of the country’s frozen assets, despite the Trump administration earlier denying any such agreement.
- The timing, location and details related to the agreement will depend on how the diplomatic process moves forward, Baghaei said. The framework could be signed by both sides remotely in the next few days, Araghchi said.
CNN’s Jessie Yeung, Mitchell McCluskey and Dalia Abdelwahab contributed reporting to this post.
What we know about a possible US-Iran agreement, according to a Trump admin official
A senior US administration official spelled out several points of the prospective agreement between the US and Iran – but there are some details that have yet be worked out.
Still, the official painted a picture of negotiations with Iran being in a much better place.
What else the official said:
- Reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the US blockade on Iranian ports are points in the framework. The agreement would also lead to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program, including the United States obtaining Iran’s enriched material.
- If the memorandum of understanding is signed, it would trigger a 60-day period for “technical” negotiations to take place. The official sidestepped a question about whether Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has personally signed off on the current agreement.
- Iran is “committing indefinitely to never procure or develop nuclear weapons,” the official said. Technical details of how to remove Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium have yet to be worked out, they said, and discussions about how to proceed would occur in the next round of technical talks.
- Iran would also be “relieved of a lot of the economic pressures that they’ve been under for many, many years” if the country complies with the framework’s provisions, the official said.
- Fractures remain within Iranian leadership about how to proceed, but the Trump administration believes the majority of officials are committed to the prospective agreement. Much of the messaging coming out of Tehran is “to sell the deal to their internal population,” the official said.
- The Trump administration feels “confident” that Israel “will get on board” with the agreement between US and Iran, the official said, but did not rule out future military action by Israel in Lebanon.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Alayna Treene, Alejandra Jaramillo, Jennifer Hansler and Kit Maher contributed reporting to this post.
