The US Iran war ends as Washington and Tehran reached a landmark preliminary agreement on Sunday to halt their months-long conflict, lift the US blockade of Iranian ports and reopen the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most critical shipping routes for oil and gas supplies.
“The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform at around 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. The announcement came shortly after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — whose country served as a key mediator throughout the negotiations — confirmed the deal had been struck.
The memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland.
What the Deal Says
Pakistani Prime Minister 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.”
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed in a statement that war and military operations on all fronts — including Lebanon — would end permanently starting Monday night.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said a more expansive agreement covering sanctions relief for Iran would be negotiated during a 60-day ceasefire period. The fate of Iran’s nuclear programme — one of the most contentious issues in the talks — will also be addressed during those later negotiations, sources told Reuters.
Trump announced that the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively kept shut for months, would reopen on Friday. He also said he had ordered an end to the US blockade of Iranian ports.
In a characteristically dramatic post, Trump wrote: “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”
Oil Prices Fall, Markets Rally
Financial markets responded immediately to news that the US Iran war ends with a preliminary deal. Brent crude futures fell 4 percent in early trading on Monday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude slid more than 4.6 percent. Stock markets across Asia jumped sharply on the news.
The sharp drop in oil prices reflects the enormous impact the conflict has had on global energy markets since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway that previously carried around one fifth of global oil and gas supplies.
Iran’s Nuclear Programme — Left for Later
Despite the agreement being described as a major breakthrough, the thorniest issue in the entire conflict — Iran’s nuclear programme — has been deferred to the 60-day negotiation period that follows the ceasefire.
A senior Iranian official, speaking before the announcement, told Reuters that the draft deal would allow Iran to dilute its enriched uranium inside the country rather than shipping it out entirely. Iran has consistently denied seeking a nuclear weapon.
A US official said the agreement would ultimately lead to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme, with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be destroyed and removed. Iran has produced more than 400 kilograms of material at close to bomb-grade purity since Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal during his first term.
The Trump administration has previously stated that any release of Iranian frozen assets — reported to be worth $25 billion — would only take place once Iran fulfils specific conditions under the peace deal.
Netanyahu Called “A Very Difficult Guy”
The agreement was sealed despite an Israeli strike on Lebanon on Sunday that drew sharp criticism from both Iran and Trump himself.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly clashed with Trump over American demands that Israel curb its military action in Lebanon to allow the US to reach a deal with Iran. Israel has insisted it will retain freedom of military operations in Lebanon, while Iran made a full ceasefire there a non-negotiable part of its demands.
Trump updated Netanyahu on the deal’s progress during a phone call on Sunday. In an interview with the New York Times, Trump called Netanyahu “a very difficult guy” and argued the Israeli leader should thank him for saving Israel from a nuclear-armed Iran.
Israel, which launched the war alongside the US on February 28, said it was not party to the US-Iran talks and offered no immediate reaction to the announcement.
World Leaders Welcome the Deal
Leaders from outside the Middle East broadly welcomed the announcement. The United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy issued a joint statement saying 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 now be restored in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran must never have a nuclear weapon.”
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham — one of the most hawkish voices on Iran in the US Congress — praised the deal but said he would be “watching closely” the coming negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme. He noted that under US law, any nuclear deal with Iran must be sent to Congress for review and a vote.
Critics Question the Deal’s Terms
Not everyone welcomed the agreement. Former Biden administration State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller argued that Trump had made important concessions to Iran to return to the situation that existed before he launched the war.
“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 US in return,” Miller said.
The human cost of the conflict has been devastating — thousands of people have been killed, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, since US and Israeli forces first attacked Iran on February 28. The war pushed up global energy prices, disrupted shipping and triggered the latest round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Iran war has also become a significant political liability for Trump and Republicans in Congress, with opinion polls showing Americans deeply frustrated by rising petrol prices ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Pakistan, which hosted the first US-Iran talks in Islamabad and played a consistent mediating role throughout the conflict, said it was proud to have contributed to bringing both sides to the table.
