The United States and Iran have reached an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump announced on Sunday, in the biggest breakthrough of a conflict that has killed thousands and upended global energy markets since it began in February.
“The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”
The memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be signed officially on Friday in Switzerland. Trump said the strait — through which a fifth of global oil and gas supplies once flowed before Iran effectively shut it — would reopen on Friday, and that he had ordered an end to the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Oil prices fell sharply on the news, with Brent crude futures dropping 4% in early Monday trading. Asian stock markets surged.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country served as mediator throughout the conflict, announced the deal on X in the early hours of Monday local time. He said the pact called for “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon” — a key Iranian demand that had long been a sticking point in negotiations, with Israel and Hezbollah continuing to fight despite repeated calls for restraint.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretariat confirmed that war and military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, would end permanently from Monday night. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said a more expansive agreement — including sanctions relief for Tehran — would be negotiated during a 60-day ceasefire period.
NUCLEAR PROGRAMME DEFERRED
The precise terms of the memorandum were not immediately disclosed. The fate of Iran’s nuclear programme, one of the most contentious issues in the talks, will be addressed in subsequent negotiations, sources previously told Reuters.
A US official, speaking before the announcement, said the agreement would ultimately lead to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme, with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium destroyed and removed. A senior Iranian official gave a different account, saying the draft deal would allow Iran to dilute its enriched uranium inside the country. Iran has consistently denied seeking to build a nuclear weapon. Iran has accumulated more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade purity since withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear accord after Trump abandoned it during his first term.
A senior Iranian official also said that, under the draft terms, the US would release $25 billion in frozen Iranian assets, though the Trump administration has previously said any such release would only follow Iran fulfilling specific conditions.
ISRAEL SILENT, NETANYAHU CALLED “A VERY DIFFICULT GUY”
There was no immediate reaction from Israel, which has said it was not party to the US-Iran talks. An Israeli strike on Lebanon on Sunday drew criticism from both Iran and Trump. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clashed repeatedly with Trump over US demands that Israel curtail its Lebanon campaign to create space for a deal. Israel has insisted it retains freedom of operations there.
Trump updated Netanyahu on the deal’s progress in a phone call on Sunday, Israel’s N12 reported, citing a senior official. In an interview with the New York Times, Trump called Netanyahu “a very difficult guy” and said the Israeli leader should thank him for saving Israel from a nuclear-armed Iran.
REPUBLICAN HAWKS WATCHING
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a leading Iran hawk, praised the deal but said he would be “watching closely” the coming nuclear negotiations. “Under our law, any nuclear deal with Iran will be sent to Congress for review and a vote,” he said.
The war had become a domestic liability for Trump and his fellow Republicans ahead of November’s midterm elections, with polls showing Americans deeply frustrated by rising fuel prices. Trump has also faced pressure from within his own party to secure a complete shutdown of Iran’s nuclear programme.
Former Biden administration State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was critical, saying Trump had made important concessions to restore the status quo that existed before the war began. “We have no assurances the nuclear program will ever be addressed, but Iran has shown the world it can take the global economy hostage and get something from the U.S. in return,” he said.
INTERNATIONAL WELCOME
World leaders welcomed the announcement. Britain, Germany, France and Italy said in a joint statement they were prepared to lift sanctions on Iran in response to “clear, verifiable steps” to limit its nuclear programme. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said toll-free freedom of navigation must be restored in the strait and that “Iran must never have a nuclear weapon.”
“The lack of details especially on freedom of shipping is a concern but not one that should constrain markets today as the surge in risk appetite plays out,” said Sean Callow, a senior foreign exchange analyst at ITC Markets.
Thousands of people have been killed since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on 28 February. Iran responded by striking Israel and Gulf states hosting US bases and blockading the Strait of Hormuz, triggering a global energy crisis. Washington responded with a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
(Reuters)