After 67 days of negotiations brokered by Pakistan and backed by Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, the United States and Iran have reached a framework agreement to end the war that began in late February. The deal halts military operations across all fronts, reopens the Strait of Hormuz, and lifts the American blockade on Iran—though Israel was quick to declare it “non-binding,” affirming its intention to press ahead with military operations in Lebanon.
Early Monday, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the deal was done, urging ships around the world to “start [their] engines. Let the oil flow!”
In a separate post, he cast the moment in sweeping terms: “This Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region. Many presidents have tried to make Peace with Iran, and all have failed before me. The Leaders of the Region have, for the first time, found a President who can help them achieve real Peace. With the opening of the Strait upon the signing of the Deal on Friday, for purposes of mine removal, oil will flow on both ends again for the Region, and the World!”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country served as the principal mediator, confirmed that the understanding calls for “an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretariat announced the completion of the memorandum in similar terms, framing it as consolidating “Iran’s superiority over the American-Zionist enemy,” and saying its provisions—an immediate and permanent halt to hostilities on all fronts and the complete lifting of the naval blockade on Iran—took effect Sunday night.
The memorandum of understanding is set to be formally signed in Switzerland next Friday, after which a 60-day negotiating track will address outstanding issues, chief among them Iran’s nuclear program and American sanctions.
Hormuz and sanctions among key provisions
No party has released the full text of the agreement, but Iran’s ISNA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi as confirming that Iran had incorporated “every last point and demand” into the text.
He outlined a two-stage process following Friday’s signing: an immediate verification period during which “the US side’s commitments regarding ending the war, lifting the blockade, and releasing assets will be verified.” A second phase would involve 60 days of negotiations, contingent on Washington meeting those commitments.
Those talks, he said, would cover the lifting of US primary and secondary sanctions, the termination of UN Security Council and IAEA resolutions, the nuclear issue, and a mechanism for Iran’s post-war reconstruction and economic development.
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping and the end of the American blockade on Iranian ports are cited as key provisions—though the terms governing the strait remain contested. Iran’s Fars news agency reported that Tehran inserted an eleventh-hour amendment into the memorandum explicitly recognizing Iranian-Omani authority over the waterway, and that while free passage will be guaranteed for the first 60 days, vessels will thereafter be required to pay fees covering security, navigation, environmental, and insurance services.
“The use of the term ‘maritime services’ means that the United States has accepted that fees will be paid to Iran,” Fars reported. This sits in tension with Trump’s announcement that the strait would remain “permanently toll-free,” and the question of how, and by whom, the waterway will ultimately be managed appears likely to become a fault line in the negotiations ahead.
Wider reporting on the deal’s terms suggests it also provides for the release of $10–$14 billion of Iran’s frozen assets—out of a total $28 billion—along with further sanctions relief on Iran and the establishment of a $300 billion compensation fund for the country. Neither government has confirmed those figures.
Reports also indicate that the memorandum includes an American acknowledgment of an Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and that Iran’s uranium and nuclear facilities will remain on Iranian soil.
The memorandum calls for the suspension of sanctions on Iranian oil sales and grants Iran full access to the revenues generated from them, in addition to the establishment of a monitoring mechanism to oversee the agreement’s implementation, Mehr news agency reported.
The deal, the Wall Street Journal reported, includes an Iranian commitment not to acquire nuclear weapons and the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The paper quoted Trump as saying he was in “no rush” to remove nuclear materials from Iran at this stage, adding, “we’ll get the nuclear dust later on when we’re ready to go in and do it.”
Israel objects
The agreement was met with sharp Israeli criticism, particularly over the clause relating to Lebanon.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no immediate public comment, his far-right coalition partners were swift to declare that Israel would not be bound by its terms. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said flatly that “Trump’s agreement does not bind us,” adding: “Israel is not subordinate to the United States. We are an independent and sovereign country. We are not partners to this agreement, which does not safeguard our security. We must not withdraw from any territory [in Lebanon] that our fighters have captured.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that the IDF would remain in its positions in southern Lebanon “despite all the existing pressures and those that will still come,” warning that “if Iran attacks Israel because of the events in Lebanon, we will strike it with full force.”
The criticism was not confined to the governing right. Opposition leader Yair Golan, a former IDF deputy chief, described the deal as “the culmination of many years of failure,” accusing Netanyahu of potentially ending his tenure “with Israel’s enemies stronger, Israel weaker, and the deterrence built with the blood of our fighters eroding before our eyes.”
Israel also attempted to derail the agreement on Sunday by striking Beirut’s southern suburbs, drawing a furious response from Trump, who criticized Netanyahu’s actions on Truth Social, saying the attack “should not have happened,” particularly because “we are so close to a Peace Deal.” He added: “There should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no more attacks by any other party, including Hezbollah, against Israel.”
