The United States and Iran have reached an interim agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program, opening a two-month window for negotiations, although key issues such as verification mechanisms, enrichment limits and long-term compliance remain unresolved and are now up for further talks.The peace deal signed by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Massoud Pezhekian on Wednesday aims to open a two-month window for negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme. Under initial terms, Iran would take immediate steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to global oil shipments and would be allowed to sell oil without restrictions, senior US officials said on Wednesday.Preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons has been cited as a key objective of the campaign Trump launched with Israel in February. However, analysts quoted by the Associated Press say the interim framework leaves limited time to resolve the core dispute, unlike the earlier multilateral agreement, which took months to negotiate.The framework states that Iran “will not acquire or develop nuclear weapons” and that both sides will try to resolve the ‘disposition’ of Iran’s highly enriched uranium during this time frame, including dilution under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).Trump has directly linked this initiative to preventing nuclear proliferation. ‘If it’s not there permanently, we’ll bomb them,’ he said, referring to Iran’s nuclear ambitions and stressed that surveillance measures were already in place, saying, ‘We have cameras on every inch of it.’He also warned that any attempt to move the enriched material would trigger military action, saying: “If Iran tries to move it, the US will attack and ‘they’re gone.’ And they know it.”However, the timeline has raised skepticism in Washington and beyond. According to the AP, Senator Lindsey Graham said, “My suspicion is on Iran itself. What would a good deal look like? No enrichment. And we’ll see if we can get there. But whether we can get to Phase 2, I don’t know.”Experts have also questioned whether the political and technical bandwidth exists to deliver a full agreement within 60 days. “This administration has proven that it is having difficulty maintaining its focus on these issues,” David Schenker, director of the Arab Politics Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told the news agency.Schenker said, “This is the kind of thing that requires intense focus, attention to detail, and involving multiple technical experts. Trump loses his focus, moves on, and so does the administration. It seems as if they do not understand Iran’s strategy. He didn’t get it the first time or the second time.The 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), took more than 18 months to negotiate and involved extensive technical coordination in multiple capitals, including Vienna.That agreement collapsed after Trump withdrew from the US in 2018, with subsequent negotiations failing to restore a similar framework. The earlier agreement included bans on uranium enrichment, centrifuges and heavy water production in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.Republican lawmakers have indicated that any final agreement would require congressional approval. “I would certainly hope that the Senate will have the final say,” Senator Ted Cruz was quoted as saying by the AP.However, Senator Roger Marshall suggested that the compressed timeline could serve a strategic purpose, saying, “Iran’s modus operandi is to negotiate for the purpose of delaying negotiations so they can retool themselves. I think the President has to give them some time, otherwise there will be consequences. So I think it can be done.”The interim draft does not take into account other long-term concerns, including Iran’s ballistic missile program, its regional proxy networks and domestic political issues that have been at the center of US, Israeli and European concerns.Analysts say the framework represents a limited step forward rather than a comprehensive solution. A senior fellow at the Middle East Institute told the AP, “An agreement is better than more fighting, but the war the US and Israel have waged against Iran has failed to achieve its stated objectives. This agreement is mostly about cleaning up unnecessary mess and putting the best side to it.”