WASHINGTON, June 15 – The United States and Iran have reached an agreement to end their monthslong war, U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media Sunday, with the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil shipping route, to be reopened after it is signed.
“The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” Trump said on his 80th birthday, adding, “oil will flow on both ends again” once the memorandum of understanding is signed on Friday and the strait is reopened.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on state television that fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon, would end immediately and permanently. But he added that Iran would implement the memorandum after it is officially signed.
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency, quoting sources, also reported Monday local time that the strait will reopen after the deal is signed on Friday.
According to Pakistan, which has been acting as a mediator between the two conflicting countries, the signing ceremony will be held in Switzerland.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that both countries had agreed to an immediate ceasefire.
Iranian diplomatic sources told Kyodo News that the reopening of the strait is included in the final draft of the memorandum. However, while the Iranian side insists on charging service fees for vessels passing through the strait, Trump told The New York Times on Sunday that there would be no tolls “permanently.”
Trump also mentioned the possibility of resuming attacks if the two sides could not reach an agreement in their nuclear talks, as the United States seeks to dismantle Iran’s nuclear development program.
The two countries plan to hold technical talks on the nuclear issue within 60 days of the signing of the memorandum, according to senior U.S. officials.
Before the announcement of the memorandum agreement, Israel carried out an airstrike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut, targeting the headquarters of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
According to Lebanese state television, three people were killed in the attack.
Trump expressed concern over the incident, urging Israel and Lebanon to “stand down” and saying that “there should also be no more attacks by any other party.”
The attacks against Iran that Trump and Israel launched on Feb. 28 resulted in the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled the country for nearly four decades.
Washington and Tehran agreed on a fragile ceasefire in early April, but they exchanged fire following the downing of a U.S. helicopter over the strait earlier this month.
Since the start of the conflict, the strait, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which around 20 percent of the world’s oil shipments passed prior to the war, has been effectively closed, upending energy markets and casting uncertainty over the global economy.
The Middle East situation is expected to be discussed at the three-day Group of Seven summit from Monday in Evian-les-Bains, France, with Trump set to attend.
