Topline
The United States and Iran have agreed to a peace deal, according to statements Sunday evening from both President Donald Trump and Pakistani officials who helped broker the talks. Trump also said in a Truth Social post that the U.S. would lift its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, adding: “Let the oil flow!”
Earlier in the evening, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a social media post that the agreement—facilitated by Pakistan as a go-between—is expected to be formally signed next Friday in Switzerland.
Sharif said the accord would bring an immediate halt to fighting across all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel had carried out strikes on Hezbollah positions in Beirut only hours before.
In his Truth Social message, Trump said the naval blockade targeting Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz would be lifted, then declared: “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”
Iran also signaled it is prepared to move forward. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran intends to sign the agreement next Friday, according to multiple reports citing comments carried by Iranian state-affiliated media.
Neither Trump nor Sharif released further details about the terms of the deal. However, Reuters and The New York Times reported that the agreement would grant both sides an additional 60 days to work through issues tied to Iran’s nuclear program, which Trump has repeatedly said must be abandoned for any deal to go ahead.
Trump and Sharif offered no other immediate details about the contents of the deal, but both Reuters and the New York Times reported the agreement would give both sides another 60 days to address Iran’s nuclear program—something Trump has repeatedly insisted Iran must give up in order for a deal to proceed.
Big Number
$81.30 per barrel. That’s how much U.S. crude oil was trading for in the immediate aftermath of the announcement of the peace deal, with prices falling about 4.2% in the minutes after trading opened.
Contra
Earlier on Sunday, it appeared as if the Israeli strikes on Beirut could upend a possible peace deal. Iran has previously insisted the ceasefire deal with the U.S. must also apply to Israel’s ongoing war with Hezbollah, the Islamist militant group in Lebanon. Continued fighting there has threatened to shatter the fragile truce between the U.S. and Iran multiple times, and Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, condemned the most recent attack on Beirut again on Sunday, saying it showed “America either lacks the will or the ability to fulfill its obligations.” In an earlier post on Truth Social, Trump also appeared angry about the Israeli strikes in Lebanon. “This morning’s attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran,” Trump wrote, calling the Hezbollah attack that prompted the strike “very small and meaningless.”
