Full story
Ceasefire and Hormuz
The United States and Iran reached a peace deal that Trump said would end hostilities and authorize toll-free shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which he said has been largely closed since the US and Israel launched an assault on Iran on December 28.
“United States President Donald Trump has announced that a ceasefire deal with Iran has been agreed to and that toll-free shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will now begin”
Trump wrote on Truth Social, "The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete," and said he fully authorized "the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz" while also authorizing the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the same deal on X, saying it would end fighting on all fronts including Lebanon, and he set an official signing ceremony for June 19 in Switzerland.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi later confirmed the agreement, and CNN reported that the memorandum of understanding would kick off 60 more days of negotiation after Friday’s signing.
The deal’s immediate operational impact was described by Trump as reopening the Strait of Hormuz and removing the blockade on Iranian ports, with ships told to “start your engines” and “Let the oil flow!”
Reactions and rupture risk
The announcement arrived after a flare-up in Lebanon that Trump said should not have happened, as NPR reported he condemned an Israeli strike in Beirut and warned, "Let's not blow it!"
NPR said the strike left 3 dead and 15 wounded in Dahiyeh, a suburb of Beirut and stronghold of Hezbollah, and it quoted Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf condemning the strike as showing America lacked the will or ability to fulfill commitments.
In parallel, CNN reported that Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the 60-day negotiations would hinge on the US meeting three commitments, including "lifting and ending the naval blockade" and "releasing Iran’s frozen funds," and that entry into the talks was conditional on US implementation.
The Guardian described anger among Iranian hardliners at the terms of the deal, quoting Iranian MP Kamran Ghazanfari saying, "The fact that they say we won and America has retreated is a blatant lie," and it quoted Meysam Nili calling the deal a catastrophic capitulation.
Even as leaders welcomed the breakthrough, the dispute over how to manage the Strait of Hormuz and the nuclear track remained a live political fault line inside Iran, with the Guardian reporting that Mehdi Mohammadi insisted the deal would end the war including Israel’s offensive in Lebanon.
What comes next
The next procedural step is a signing ceremony in Switzerland on June 19, which multiple outlets tied to the memorandum of understanding that Trump said would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the US naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Al Jazeera reported that Sharif said an official signing ceremony will take place in Switzerland on Friday, June 19, and it said mediators would facilitate a series of meetings this week ahead of technical talks.
CNN added that Qatari mediators had left Tehran after 17 hours of intensive negotiations and that separate preparatory meetings with each side would take place in Doha this week ahead of the official signing in Switzerland.
Beyond the ceasefire mechanics, the Guardian reported that Iranian officials led by Mehdi Mohammadi argued the text would not require new commitments on Iran’s nuclear programme and that the means of disposal of highly enriched uranium would be left to future discussions lasting 60 days.
The stakes described in the sources also included sanctions and frozen funds, with CNN saying Gharibabadi linked the start of the 60-day negotiations to US commitments including "releasing Iran’s frozen funds," while the Guardian reported that the release of half of Iran’s frozen money held abroad was “roughly $12bn (£9bn)” and had not been finalised.
