Ammon News - U.S. and Iranian officials said they had agreed on a framework to end their war, halt the U.S. blockade of Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a preliminary pact that sent ​oil prices falling but leaves the fate of Iran's nuclear program to further negotiations.

"The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete," U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform around ‌5:30 p.m. ET local time in Washington (2130 GMT) on Sunday. His post came shortly after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has served as a mediator, announced a deal had been struck early on Monday local time.

The memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland.

The precise terms were not immediately known. 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 Trump and others to ​stop their attacks on each other in recent weeks.

In a statement, the secretariat of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said war and military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, would end permanently starting on Monday night.

Iran's deputy foreign ​minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said a more expansive agreement would be negotiated during a 60-day ceasefire period, including sanctions relief for Iran.

The fate of Iran's nuclear program, another thorny issue, will also ⁠be addressed in those later talks, sources previously told Reuters.
There was no immediate reaction to the announcement from Israel, which has said it was not party to the U.S.-Iran talks.

STRAIT TO REOPEN
Trump said the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route for ​global oil and gas supplies that Iran has effectively shut down for months, would open on Friday, and that he had ordered the end of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

"Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!" Trump wrote.

Oil ​prices fell on the news. Brent crude futures fell 4% in early trading on Monday, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate slid more than 4.6%. Stock markets in Asia jumped.

The U.S. president said oil would flow again for the whole world.

Former Biden administration State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Trump had made important concessions to Iran to achieve the status quo 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 U.S. in return," said Miller.

Iran's Mehr news agency reported that the US will release $12 billion in frozen assets to Iran before the start of negotiations.

It quoted a 14-point “memorandum of understanding” between the two nations, which it said stipulated “the release of 24 billion dollars in frozen Iranian assets during the 60-day negotiation period” that begins after the MoU is signed.

"What we're going to be able to do is drive down the cost of energy, not just now but for the long term, and create a real engine of prosperity in the Middle East," US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News.

He said that he planned to attend the signing of the peace deal, which was slated to take place in Geneva, and that it was possible Trump could also go.


Reuters + AFP