US and Iran reach tentative deal to end war

US President Donald Trump and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Sunday they had reached an initial deal to end the war and resume traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the deal with Iran is complete. The US and Iran will sign a memorandum of understanding in Switzerland on Friday, according to Pakistan’s prime minister, whose country mediated.

The content of the agreement, after weeks of tense negotiations and periodic threats from Trump, remains unclear. Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported that the draft deal calls for reopening the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days under Iranian arrangements. Trump, who turned 80 on Sunday, said the deal allows toll-free shipping through the strait, which has been largely closed since the US and Israel launched an assault on Iran on December 28.

The US will release $12bn in frozen Iranian assets before negotiations begin, Mehr reported. In an interview with The New York Times, Trump said Washington is still negotiating whether Iran would suspend enrichment for 20 years, hinting he might accept a 15-year suspension. Israel has not commented.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretariat said on Monday that the deal includes immediate suspension of hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, and an end to the naval blockade against Iran. In the US, Democratic lawmakers welcomed the deal but criticized the Trump administration’s war decisions. Senator Chris Murphy called it a “surrender to Iran” but added that every day the “insane, illegal war” continues, the US gets weaker.

Shortly before the deal was announced, Israel launched an air attack on Beirut, which Trump angrily blamed on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying it delayed the signing. Global leaders praised the deal: UK PM Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, EU chief Antonio Costa, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it a critical step toward peace.

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