Sanctions Relief, Frozen-Funds Release Only After Hormuz Fully Functions
The unfreezing of Iranian assets will occur only once the Strait of Hormuz has reopened, a senior US administration official said yesterday. Sanctions imposed on Iran will only be lifted once the strait is open and fully functioning again. The conditional sequencing — Hormuz first, then everything else — is the operational architecture of the proposed memorandum of understanding. Iran has committed not to pursue a nuclear weapon and would enter negotiations on giving up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and pausing any new enrichment. Multiple Iranian outlets reported on Sunday that the strait would remain under Iranian supervision over a 30-day period, with shipping returning to pre-war levels.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday the deal was a “work in progress”. The Iranian counter-briefing on the strait remains the largest open variable: Tehran briefs that Iran continues to supervise the waterway under a 30-day framework; Washington briefs that the strait will be fully reopened and demined. The CNN-reported architecture builds in a US incentive structure (sanctions relief contingent on actual Hormuz functioning, not just declarations) that gives Washington enforcement leverage through the 60-day window. Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmail Baghaei described the latest proposal as a “framework agreement” that would first establish broad principles before details are negotiated over 30 to 60 days.