ISLAMABAD: The United States and Iran have agreed to a peace deal following “intensive talks,” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced early Monday, saying that both sides have agreed to permanently end military operations on all fronts and that the agreement will be signed during an official ceremony in Switzerland on Jun. 19.
US President Donald Trump also announced on his Truth Social account on Sunday night that Washington had agreed to a peace deal with Iran. The US president said he was authorizing the “toll free opening” of the Strait of Hormuz route and the immediate removal of a US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Efforts by Pakistan and other regional mediators to reach a peace agreement between the US and Iran were threatened by Israel’s attacks targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, as it pursued the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon.
“Following intensive talks, we are pleased to announce that the Peace Deal between the United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran has been REACHED,” Sharif wrote on his X account on Sunday night. “Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”
The Pakistani prime minister said the peace deal will be signed in Switzerland on Jun. 19. He thanked the US and Iran for their commitment to finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict, lauding Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye for their peace efforts.
“I would also especially thank the visionary leadership of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Republic of Türkiye for their immense contributions in this regard,” he said.
Sharif said now that the deal was in place, mediators will facilitate a series of meetings this week.
“These pre-implementation discussions will lay the foundation for the technical talks and the official signing ceremony,” he said.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed the agreement on state television but said Iran would not start implementing it until it was signed on Friday. He said the deal followed over 14 hours of talks in Tehran with a representative from Qatar, another mediator.
STICKING POIINTS
The war began in February when the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran, saying the attacks were aimed at preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and that it does not intend to build a nuclear weapon.
Tehran responded by attacking Israel and US military bases in the Middle East, including civilian infrastructure in the region as well. The war dragged on for months, with Iran effectively blocking the Strait of Hormuz waterway through which nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies are shipped, driving oil prices higher worldwide.
Pakistan has acted as the principal mediator between the US and Iran, hosting the first round of direct talks between both sides in April in Islamabad. Both sides were unable to reach an agreement, but Pakistan remained in contact with the leadership of Iran and the US, relaying messages and peace proposals between the two sides.
While the exact points of the deal were not disclosed by either Sharif or Trump, Washington and Tehran have differed over various points over the past few months as they sought a peace deal. These included managing the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran insisting it will maintain control over the key maritime trade route.
Since imposing its blockade, Iran has demanded vessels obtain permission from its armed forces before transiting the waterway, and has established a new body to oversee it and collect tolls.
Another key sticking point in the talks has been the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, and particularly its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — believed to have been buried by US strikes last year during a previous short-lived war.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the only way to deal with Iran’s enriched uranium “is to dilute it inside Iran.”
Trump, who has justified the war as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, previously said the US would remove and destroy the uranium.
