US-Iran Negotiations, Middle East Reacts To Possible Deal, DRC Ebola Outbreak Spreads

0:00You know, I always forget when our holidays are, and I feel like I'm always hosting on those days because I don't know that.

0:05Rachel Martin:Because you are hosting on those days. But, you know, I feel good about showing up on a day like this because I figure, you know, like anybody who listens to me on a holiday needs me. Well, I hope a lot of people are sleeping in and listening to us later than 5 a.m. Maybe a little bit later. Like 6 a.m. 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 9 a.m. But still listen. You still need to be informed on holiday. You got to be informed. You got to keep up on events. President Trump said an agreement with Iran is, quote, largely negotiated and would move everyone closer to peace. He says the deal would open the Strait of Hormuz.

0:44Rachel Martin:So why do some Republicans call it a disaster? I'm Leila Fahdil. That's Stephen Skeep. And this is Up First from NPR News. This is a preliminary deal with Iran. It wouldn't include the unconditional surrender President Trump was demanding, nor does it address a key U.S. concern, Iran's nuclear enrichment. Has Iran capitulated at all? Also, an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed more than 200 people. Groups are struggling to respond amid violence, misinformation, and less U.S. support. Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.

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2:43Grainger, for the ones who get it done. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says a deal with Iran is close. Some progress has been made, significant progress, although not final progress has been made.

2:55Rachel Martin:President Trump spoke with leaders of several Gulf countries and Israel on Saturday. Trump then said an agreement had been, quote, largely negotiated. Rubio spoke a bit more carefully, telling reporters he's expecting a response from Iran soon. We will get to what Iran has said so far in a moment. We begin with what we know from officials on the U.S. side. NPR's senior national political correspondent Mara Liason is covering this and joins me now. Hi, Mara. Hi there. So what are U.S. officials saying publicly about this possible deal? Well, it's not actually a deal yet, but Trump posted that he'd spent Saturday talking with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Jordan, Bahrain, and Pakistan about, quote, a memorandum of understanding, and that one aspect of these negotiations, according to Trump, would be to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

3:45Iran's foreign ministry says the memorandum of understanding is aimed at ending the war, but that Iran is rejecting any discussions about its nuclear program, so no change there. Trump later posted something that tamped down expectations. He said he told U.S. negotiators not to rush into a deal. He also reiterated that Iran cannot develop a bomb, But he also posted, quote, nobody has seen it or knows what it is. It isn't even fully negotiated. OK, so it's not even clear that this is anything really yet. What has the reaction been politically? There are Republicans who supported the strike on Iran who've been very skeptical about this deal memorandum.

4:25Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina posted on X, if a deal is struck to end the Iranian conflict because it's believed that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be protected from Iranian terrorism, then Iran will be perceived as being a dominant force. He later urged Trump to stick to his guns and get a good deal. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on X that the deal was a disaster. And in a previous post, he said Trump is being ill-advised to pursue a deal that would not be worth the paper it's written on. So I think as we get more details about this, we might get more reaction like that.

5:00Yeah. So it's been a little over 12 weeks since the U.S. and Israel started this war. Most Americans don't like it. Gas prices have spiked and inflation is on the rise. Republicans are increasingly nervous about the midterms, given all of this economic news. Would a deal, Mara, with Iran now help them in November? It certainly would help them more than not having a deal, especially if the Strait of Hormuz opens and gas prices come down before November. That would be helpful for Republican incumbents. We are seeing a deeply unhappy electorate. Democrats have an advantage when people are asked that generic ballot question, who would you prefer to run Congress, Democrats or Republicans?

5:43And if it was a decade ago, we'd be saying, whoa, it looks like there's a blue wave forming. But the structural advantages that Republicans have make them more powerful in the midterms. They have lots more money. There's been a new round of court-sanctioned partisan redistricting. And even before that mid-cycle redistricting, Republicans had a map with fewer competitive seats than in the past. We also know from polling that even though voters are negative about Trump and the war and the ballroom and the economy, they're also reluctant to vote for Democrats because the Democratic brand is so unpopular.

6:15So that means in the end, Democrats in competitive districts have to find ways to separate themselves from their party. Republicans in these districts have to find a way to separate themselves from Trump. And we know that some Republicans in Congress are balking for the first time at voting for some of Trump's unpopular policies. That's NPR senior national political correspondent Mara Lyson. Thank you, Mara.

6:37Rachel Martin:You're welcome. So that's how the war looks from here. Let's see how it looks from the Persian Gulf region. About 1 ,500 ships are still waiting to travel through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has controlled this waterway since the start of the war three months ago. Neither the U.S. war nor More, a short-lived U.S. military operation to open the strait has brought about Iran's capitulation. Okay, so what is in this agreement exactly? NPR international correspondent Abitraoui is in the United Arab Emirates, joins us once again. Hi there. Hi, good morning. Okay, the president's statement over the weekend triggered these headlines.

7:09Rachel Martin:It gave me the impression the war is over, but it sounds like the terms are not resolved. So what is in the agreement? Right, this would only be a preliminary agreement, not a final deal. It would essentially extend the current ceasefire by another 60 days. And think of it more as a starting point for direct talks between the U.S. and Iran for that to even happen. And so what we've heard from Washington and Tehran is that this deal would include Iran gradually opening the Strait of Hormuz, which is critical to getting energy flowing again from the Gulf to the rest of the world. And what this deal does not include are details on Iran's nuclear program.

7:43Here's Secretary of State Marco Rubio explaining this to reporters yesterday. It will require some future work on negotiating the details. When you're talking about a nuclear program, as an example, these are highly technical matters and ones that would probably need to be addressed over some period of time. And later in response to a question by The New York Times, Rubio said technical talks on nuclear enrichment can't happen in 72 hours, quote, on the back of a napkin.

8:07Rachel Martin:OK, so this is some kind of interim deal or a deal to make a deal doesn't seem to address Iran's nuclear enrichment. What is Iran giving up if it's not giving up the possibility of nuclear weapons? Right. Well, it has to open the Strait of Hormuz. This is its leverage, which it did not have before the war. It will have to start letting ships through again and without demanding any tolls. The U.S. has made that clear. But Iran now also has demand, Steve. One is that the U.S. unfreezes its billions of dollars in foreign banks. And another is that Israel ends its war in Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

8:42But just like Trump is facing midterms this year, so is Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He's also facing elections in Israel this year, and he wants both wars to continue. Netanyahu says Trump told him in their last phone call on Saturday that Israel will be able to continue its war in Lebanon, which he described as self-defense. But Iran has been saying that ending that war in Lebanon must come before any nuclear talks. And this is one of the points that are still under negotiation.

9:05Rachel Martin:I'm fascinated by all the points you just raised there. One in particular, you say that Iran expects to get some of its many, many billions of dollars of frozen assets unfrozen to them. This is something that enraged Republicans back in 2015 when the U.S. made a nuclear deal with Iran that included some money to Iran. And so now the Iranians seem to expect money again. That's one issue here. Another has to do with continuing the war in the region. What do Arab nations, including the one where you are, the UAE, think about that? Right. So there was this call over the weekend between Trump and all the key regional leaders here from Pakistan to Turkey and beyond.

9:44And official statements about that call show that they spoke in rare unison, urging Trump to end the war through talks. Gulf Arab states have also paid a heavy price for this war. We know that they were hit hard by Iran. Also, Steve, there are two million, around two million Muslim pilgrims right now in Saudi Arabia performing the Hajj. That's another reason why there's a push to hold off on any return to war right now to ensure their safety and protect the sanctity of that pilgrimage. And there's pressure building to reach a deal because this war does not seem to have actually softened Iran's position much.

10:13You know, Iran before this war had agreed to storing its highly enriched uranium abroad, according to mediator Oman at the time. And today, Iran's state media says there are no commitments on that.

10:22Rachel Martin:And Parasya Batraoui, thanks as always. Thanks, Steve.

10:31Rachel Martin:The latest government figures show more than 200 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak. That's out of more than 900 suspected cases. The virus is spreading in eastern Congo. The region is larger than Florida. Armed groups and national armies are fighting there, which is complicating efforts to contain the disease. The World Health Organization warns the risk of the virus spreading rapidly in the country is very high. The outbreak involves a rare strain of Ebola, which doesn't have an approved vaccine or treatment. Reporter Emmett Livingstone is covering this from the Congolese capital, Kinshasa.

11:06Rachel Martin:Welcome. Hello. What's making this outbreak hard to contain? There's a perfect storm of factors making this one difficult. Eastern Congo is extremely vulnerable. The health care infrastructure is degraded. aid budgets have been slashed, and all of this in a region which is in the grip of extreme violence. Ebola has had several outbreaks in the DRC. The first one was in 1979, but this latest one was only really noticed when a nurse turned up ill on April 24th and was then buried in a town called Mongualu. The epidemic was then only announced on May 15th, by which point lots of people had already died.

11:45Three Red Cross volunteers who had handled infected bodies before the outbreak was known about have also since died.

11:51Rachel Martin:When Layla refers to a region the size of Florida where this outbreak is happening, what's that region like? Well, first, maybe a little bit about the epicenter of the outbreak, Mongualu in Ituri province. Now, this is a gold mining town where the population is extremely vulnerable. People live in unsanitary conditions. It was considered almost a no-go zone until very recently. It's had no humanitarian missions and it's hard to reach. Ituri province is also fractured by extreme violence with multiple armed groups fighting, such as the ADF, which is linked to the Islamic State. And then more broadly, eastern Congo is facing several overlapping conflicts.

12:28There are four different national armies fighting on the ground at the moment, and the biggest conflict is the one with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, and some Ebola cases have been confirmed in that area too.

12:40Rachel Martin:Okay, doesn't sound good. And so part of the problem here is the war or wars going on. What other challenges do aid groups face when they try to deal with this? Apart from the conflict, one of the largest challenges is distrust in healthcare, which is there for historical reasons. These are populations that have been oppressed by one group or another for a very long time. Then there's also a phenomenal amount of misinformation and conspiracy theories that are circulating. Gabriela Arenas, the regional operations coordinator for the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent in Africa, told journalists that their volunteers are going door to door in an effort to combat fear and false rumors.

13:20For some people, the outbreak is very real. And they are seeking information on how to protect themselves and better protect their families. For others, there's still suspicion and misinformation. Claiming that Ebola is fabricated. On top of that, there is an urgent need for PPE and other medical equipment, which is all in short supply. And of course, all of this is compounded by U.S. aid cuts, which have definitely had a huge impact on eastern Congo.

13:49Rachel Martin:I just want to underline this. Health officials are going door to door, warning people about Ebola, and some people are just saying, nah, don't believe it, not happening. That's correct. That's correct. I mean, I think it has to be understood, and it's difficult to understand from the outside, that many of these areas are almost entirely cut off from commerce or interaction with the global economy. So they're simply not used to outsiders coming in and telling them about things like this. Emmett Livingstone in Kinshasa, thanks so much. Thank you.

14:24Rachel Martin:On this holiday weekend, it's worth finding something else in the Up First feed. The Trump administration is rolling back federal efforts to fight climate change, so city and state governments are stepping in. We think we are standing in what can be the future of energy in Denver. It's the Sunday story, climate solutions on the local level. Listen now in the Up First podcast feed from NPR News.

14:50Rachel Martin:And that's Up First for this Monday, May 25th, Memorial Day. I'm Steve Inskey. And I'm Leila Faudil. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Christian Dove Calamer, Tina Crya, Tara Neal, Mohamed El-Bradisi, and Taylor Haney. It was produced by Ziad Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Zovan Ginhoven. Our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.

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