The United States and Iran agreed to a peace deal and an “immediate and permanent” end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, the Pakistani mediator said, signaling an apparent end to more than three months of war in the Middle East.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shebhaz Sharif tweeted on X that a peace deal “has been reached” and an official signing ceremony will be held on June 19 in Switzerland.
“The deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” US President Donald Trump quickly confirmed with his statement on Sunday, as he marked his 80th birthday.
“I fully authorize the free opening of the Strait of Hormuz and, at the same time, authorize the immediate lifting of the United States naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”
Soon after, Iran said the newly announced agreement with the United States brought an “immediate end” to the war.
“A permanent and immediate end to the war has been declared on all fronts, including Lebanon,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in televised remarks in Iran.
Just hours earlier, Tehran had vowed to retaliate against an Israeli attack on Iranian ally Hezbollah on the outskirts of Beirut that threatened to delay a deal.
But later in the day, Pakistan’s Sharif announced that a deal had been reached, thanking the US and Iran “for finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict”.
“Both sides have declared an immediate and permanent end to military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” Sharif wrote, adding he thanked the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey for their support in mediation efforts.
Israeli attack
It was a rollercoaster Sunday, with Trump in the morning angrily blaming Israel for delaying his signature with an airstrike in Beirut that he said had delayed the deal.
In a busy telephone interview with an American newspaper AxiosTrump was angry about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying: “I was very angry. I let him know.”
The last time Israel struck the suburbs of Beirut, it dealt one of the strongest blows yet to a ceasefire that has largely held since April, with Iran firing a barrage of retaliatory rockets and Israel responding with strikes.
Tehran has long demanded that any deal to end the war must include the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel has been waging a campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The war began in late February, with US-Israeli attacks on Iran, which retaliated with attacks on Israel and US allies in the region, and by virtually blocking shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil and natural gas supplies.
The US responded by blocking shipping traffic to Iranian ports.
Trump said Sunday that the strait would be opened after the ceremony in Switzerland.
Economic impact
The blockade of the strait has had a worldwide economic impact, from inflated gas prices fueling inflation in the US and many other countries and overburdened supply chains for commodities such as key fertilizers for food production in areas far beyond the Middle East.
“What we’re going to be able to do is lower 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 after the deal was announced.
He said he planned to attend the signing of a peace agreement, which was scheduled to take place in Geneva, and that it was possible that Trump would come as well.
“I certainly plan to be there, but it’s possible the president himself will be there,” Vance said.
Attachment points
The content of the deal, which follows weeks of difficult negotiations and periodic threats from Trump of renewed hostilities if Iran does not reach a deal, remained unclear.
The warring parties have released conflicting information about the content of the agreement, as each seeks to show that it has emerged from the war with the upper hand.
Tehran had insisted it would retain control over the vital Strait of Hormuz, but the United States repeatedly said that would be unacceptable.
Another sticking point in the talks has been the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, particularly its stockpile of highly enriched uranium – believed to have been buried by US strikes last year.
Trump has justified the war as necessary to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons – an ambition he has long denied – and has previously said the US would remove and destroy the uranium.
On Saturday, Trump said: “When everything is calm, we’re going to go in and take the Nuclear Dust… and we’re going to mix it up and destroy it, whether it’s in Iran or in the United States.”
(cz)
