Memorandum Of Misunderstanding, Fatal ICE Shooting, Paramount Merger Suit

**Michelle Martin** (0:02)
The US and Iran are attacking each other to prove who has control over the Strait of Hormuz.

**A Martinez** (0:07)
The waterway was supposed to be open after they signed a memorandum of understanding is vague language causing a misunderstanding.

**Michelle Martin** (0:14)
I'm Michelle Martin, that's A Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News.
An ICE officer shot and killed a person in Maine yesterday. It's the second fatal shooting by an ICE agent in the past week where an agent shot someone in a moving vehicle. Local officials have questions they want answered.

**A Martinez** (0:32)
A dozen states filed a lawsuit to prevent Paramount from merging with Warner Brothers discovery. The Justice Department previously cleared the deal. How much influence did President Trump have in that decision? Stay with us, we've got news you need to start your day. For a third night in a row, the US and Iran attacked each other, fighting over who controls the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump said Monday, the US military will return to another act of war.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:01)
We're putting the blockade back, and it's a blockade not for anybody but Iran.

**A Martinez** (1:05)
The military says that blockade will be going into effect later today.

**Michelle Martin** (1:08)
This comes after a week of the US and Iran trading heavy airstrikes, and a month after both sides signed a memorandum of understanding that was meant to end the conflict. But that 14-point document has only caused more confusion over the status of the key waterway.

**A Martinez** (1:22)
NPR's international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam has been following all this. Jackie, so another blockade and more fighting overnight over the Strait.

**Jackie Northam** (1:30)
Right, and this is largely about control over the Strait of Hormuz. It's considered an international waterway, but since the start of the crisis, Iran has claimed it's in control and has insisted ships get permission and follow approved routes. And it's been attacking ships if they don't. On Monday, President Trump pushed back saying that going forward, the US will be known as the guardian of the Hormuz Strait. And he's threatened to start charging 20% fees on all goods transiting through the waterway, even though his administration has said charging fees violates international law.
Iran lashed out at this saying under no circumstances will it allow the US to interfere with the management of the Strait.

**A Martinez** (2:12)
So Iran and the US signed an agreement last month that was, I thought, supposed to resolve all this, so why is this all happening?

**Jackie Northam** (2:19)
Yes, it was a memorandum of understanding, and you're right, it was meant to help in the fighting and, equally important, open the Strait of Hormuz. And this is particularly crucial for President Trump ahead of the midterm elections.
One of the big complaints by the deal's numerous critics was that it was quickly cobbled together with the idea that, you know, the details would be worked out later on. The problem is that without details, the agreement lacks clarity, and therefore it's open to interpretation. And, you know, that's led to confusion and, ultimately, the renewed fighting.

**A Martinez** (2:49)
So, kicking up as an example of that.

**Jackie Northam** (2:51)
Sure. Take paragraph five. It says, Iran would make arrangements using, quote, its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vehicles. That's pretty vague. And the Trump administration sees that as, okay, Iran will open the Strait of Hormuz and ships can pass freely.
Iran views that paragraph as it decides which ships can pass. In other words, Iran is in control of the Strait. I spoke with Michael Singh and he's a MIDI specialist and managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. And he says these types of documents are often left deliberately vague to allow both sides to claim victory. Here he is.

**Michael Singh** (3:29)
Here I think the wording, you know, he was much more to what Iran wanted to get out of that understanding because it seems to place responsibility for the Straits in Iran's hands rather than reinforcing that this is an international waterway. And so this is a document which I think could have been negotiated better.

**Jackie Northam** (3:47)
And Singh says if the agreement had been negotiated better, perhaps we wouldn't be seeing some of the instability we see now.

**Michael Singh** (3:54)
All right.

**A Martinez** (3:55)
So where does this leave things? I mean, is the Strait open or is it closed?

**Jackie Northam** (3:58)
Well, it's unclear. You know, the number of ships trying to pass the Strait yesterday was just reduced to a trickle. And Singh believes sometimes these things have to be worked out through a combination of both talking and fighting at the same time, which is what we're seeing now.