US President Donald Trump said on Monday a preliminary agreement to end the war in the Gulf has been signed by the US and Iran, though details have yet to be made public and both countries said a permanent truce is yet to be negotiated.
The agreement would extend a tenuous ceasefire announced in April by another 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February.
Negotiators would address difficult issues like the future of Iran’s nuclear program during the next phase.
“The deal’s all signed,” Trump said after he arrived in France for a summit of the G7 group of big economies. He said Vice President JD Vance would attend a formal signing ceremony in Geneva on Friday.
Oil prices fell to their lowest level since March 10, shortly after the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, cut off one-fifth of the world’s oil trade.
The deal is the most significant step yet to resolve the conflict, which has killed at least 7,000 people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and upended global energy markets.
But much about the agreement remains unknown, and whether its provisions differ from the April ceasefire was unclear.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media that the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was an “important step” toward stopping the fighting but noted a final agreement for a lasting truce “has yet to take shape.”
