US and Iranian officials said they have agreed on a peace framework for a deal to end their war, halt the US blockade of Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, possibly leading to lower energy prices once oil shipments resume through the critical waterway.
“The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
His post came shortly after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has served as a mediator, announced a deal had been struck.
The pact will be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland, Mr Sharif wrote.
The precise terms were not immediately known.
Mr Sharif said in a post on X that the pact called for “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”
Lebanon has been a sticking point in negotiations, with Israel and Hezbollah ignoring calls from Mr Trump and others to stop their attacks on each other in recent weeks.
Mr Trump said the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane for global energy supplies that Iran has effectively shut down for months, would open on Friday, and that he had ordered the end of the US blockade of Iranian ports.
“Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!,” Mr Trump wrote.
An Israeli airstrike on southern Beirut caused a late crisis in the talks
Oil prices fell on the news. Brent crude futures fell 4% in early trading this morning, while US West Texas Intermediate slid more than 4.6%.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said a more expansive agreement would be negotiated during a 60-day ceasefire period, including sanctions relief.
The fate of Iran’s nuclear program will also be addressed in those later talks, sources previously told Reuters.
Thousands of people have been killed, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, since US and Israeli forces first attacked Iran on 28 February.
Iran has struck Israel and Gulf states hosting US bases and has effectively blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, pushing up global energy prices.
US forces have blocked Iranian ports in response.
There was no immediate reaction to the announcement from Israel, which has said it was not party to the planned US-Iran deal.
The Iran war has become a political liability at home for Mr Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress, with public opinion polls showing Americans deeply frustrated by rising gas prices ahead of November’s midterm elections.
But Mr Trump has also faced pressure from members of his own party who insist that Iran’s nuclear program must be completely shut down.
Israeli attack
The agreement was sealed despite an Israeli strike on Lebanon yesterday that drew criticism from both Iran and Mr Trump.
Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf earlier said Israel’s latest attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut, which Israel said targeted Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants, showed the United States lacks “the will and ability to fulfil your commitments” in a post on X.
Iran’s foreign ministry said it held the US responsible for the attack.
Iran warned of a “strong response”, and its top joint military command said the “finger (is) on the trigger” ready to fire at the “enemy’s heart”.
In a post earlier yesterday, Mr Trump said: “This morning’s attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has differed with Mr Trump over American demands that Israel curb its military action in Lebanon to allow the US to reach a deal with Iran.
Israel has said it will retain freedom of operations in Lebanon, while Iran has made a full ceasefire there an important component of its demands.
Mr Trump updated Mr Netanyahu on the progress toward a peace deal during a phone call yesterday, Israel’s N12 reported, citing a senior official.
Deal terms
A senior Iranian official earlier told Reuters that, under the terms of the draft deal, the US would agree to release $25bn of frozen Iranian assets, while Iran would agree not to produce or acquire nuclear weapons.
The official said Iran agreed to maintain the nuclear status quo, including no uranium enrichment or expanding nuclear facilities, until a final deal is reached.
A US official, speaking before the deal was announced, said the agreement would ultimately lead to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program, with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be destroyed and removed.
Some hardliners have accused Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi of being a ‘compromiser’
A senior Iranian official said the draft deal would allow Iran, which denies seeking a nuclear bomb, to dilute its enriched uranium inside the country.
Qatari negotiators flew to Tehran yesterday morning as part of efforts to finalize the agreement, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
At pro-government rallies across Iran on Saturday night, residents and news agencies reported that hardliners opposed to the framework agreement loudly voiced their dissatisfaction.
A resident in the northeastern city of Mashhad told Reuters that some protesters chanted “Death to the compromiser,” in an apparent reference to Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.