Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Donald Trump Israel would remain free to act against threats in Lebanon during a phone call about an emerging agreement between Washington and Iran ‌on Saturday, an Israeli source said.

Trump said Washington and Iran had “largely negotiated” a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping passage that has been effectively closed since the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran in February.

Expectations rise over emerging US-Iran framework

“In last night’s ⁠conversation with President Trump, the Prime Minister emphasised that Israel will maintain freedom of action against threats in all arenas, including Lebanon, and President Trump reiterated and supported this principle,” the Israeli political source told Reuters on Sunday, asking not to be named.

Iran’s Fars news agency said the draft stipulates that the U.S. and ‌its ⁠allies will not attack Iran or its allies, and in return Iran pledges not to launch preemptive attacks on them.

Prominent Israeli politician Benny Gantz said it would be a strategic mistake for Israel to accept a ceasefire in Lebanon, which its troops have entered ⁠to fight the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, as part of a deal with Iran.

This comes amid, Washington and Iran have “largely negotiated” a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal that would reopen ​the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. President Donald Trump said, as expectations rose that a breakthrough might be imminent in the three-month-old war.

Trump said the emerging agreement being brokered by Pakistan would reopen the strait, the ‌vital shipping passage whose closure has sparked a global energy crisis since the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran in February. He did not say what else would be included in an agreement.

“Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.

Various media in the U.S. and Iran said the memorandum sets out a framework for ending months of fighting, lifting a U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping and reopening the waterway, which Iran has shut with threats to ​attack shipping.

Plans for Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Washington has insisted it give up, would be negotiated within 30 to 60 days, the reports said.

US stance on Iran nuclear conditions

According to the Israeli source, the U.S. is updating Israel on the negotiations with Iran.

“President Trump made it ⁠clear that he will stand firm in negotiations on his consistent demand for the dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program and the removal of all enriched ⁠uranium from its territory,” the source said, “and that he will not sign a final agreement without these conditions being met”.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that a call with Netanyahu had gone “very well”.