Iranian tankers exit US blockade zone ahead of peace talks

The first tankers carrying Iranian oil exited a US blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a tracking website said on Wednesday, two days before Washington and Tehran launch talks on an agreed peace deal still scant on details —  including Iran's nuclear programme and the lifting of sanctions.

The talks on a final settlement are set to begin Friday at Switzerland's Burgenstock mountain resort, as news that the Hormuz Strait will reopen sent world oil prices tumbling.

Optimism that the war triggered by the February 28 US-Israeli strikes on Tehran might be coming to an end was dented, however, by fresh Israeli strikes on south Lebanon.

The TankerTrackers website, which monitors oil shipments and storage, marked Iran's "first crude oil exports in two months", citing digital tracking data corroborated by satellite imagery.

"At least two National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) VLCC supertankers named DIONA (9569695) and HERO2 (9362073) have exited the US Navy blockade perimeter carrying a combined total of 3.8 million barrels of Iranian crude oil between them," TankerTrackers said on X, later adding that a third tanker had exited.

Negotiations over a final deal are to start immediately after the Swiss signing ceremony and continue during a 60-day window, leading to decisions on the fate of Iran's nuclear programme and a plan for the lifting of international economic sanctions, officials said.

The United States will allow Iran to immediately begin selling oil and fuel under the deal to end the war, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed people familiar with the agreement.

A waiver of sanctions on oil sales will take effect immediately after the signing, the Journal added, also covering services such as banking, transportation and insurance.

Some conservatives have expressed concern over the peace deal, with Senate Republicans reportedly requesting the text of the agreement and briefings from the Trump administration.

"Let's look at it and see what it actually is," Senate Majority Leader John Thune was quoted as saying in the Journal.

Oil prices tumble

Despite the deal announcement, the Israeli military said it conducted a strike in south Lebanon after it "identified a suspicious vehicle" near where its soldiers were operating, and its forces intercepted rockets and carried out an air strike against a launcher.

Iran's central military command warned Israel should "await a harsh response" to the strikes, which Lebanon's state news agency said targeted two vehicles in the town of Mayfadoun and another in nearby Shukeen, killing four.

According to a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, the framework agreement has already been signed electronically by President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Iran's deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

"Likely on Friday... a new round of negotiations between Iran and the United States to reach a final agreement will begin," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.

"In the final agreement, decisions will be made on the nuclear issues and the lifting of sanctions."

Optimism over the reopening of Hormuz has sent the price of the international benchmark Brent North Sea crude down to $78.74 a barrel in Wednesday trading. The main US oil contract, West Texas Intermediate, was $75.85 a barrel.

Agence France-Presse