US and Iran agree to peace deal’s text, negotiators say
The US and Iran have agreed to the wording in a peace deal for the war to end and the Strait of Hormuz to re-open, according to negotiators.
Pakistani prime minister Shebaz Sharif, who has hosted peace negotiations, said there was a “final, agreed-upon text@.
He also added in a post on X that “peace has never been this close as it is now”.
Iran had returned to exchanging fire with the US and Israel over the last week as missile strikes landed on critical infrastructure in the region.
Peace negotiations have dragged on for around a month, with President Trump both threatening to restart a full-scale war and claiming peace was near at the time. A ceasefire was first agred on 7 April.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday an agreement “has never been closer”.
Statements made by officials involved in the war have swung markets, with oil prices now coming to $82 per barrel after a previous high of nearly $120 per barrel.
Natural gas prices have also eased from previous highs, though analysts have warned that there is still uncertainty about damage to key oil refineries and other energy producers in the area.
A Trump administration official said on Friday that the emerging agreement would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin the process of destroying or removing Tehran’s highly enriched uranium, according to reports.
The officials said a deal would allow parties to work out the technical details for removing Iran’s uranium.
The deal is also expected to involve the lifting of sanctions and release of frozen Iranian assets.
Trump had previously lashed out at officials in Iran for leaking details of the peace deal, claiming “they better get their act together”.
France and the UK have said they were set to take on a mission to destroy mines across the strait in the Middle East.
Economists have said that disruption lasting for around three months will have severe consequences for the UK and wider global economy. UK growth is set to take a hit due to trade disruption while inflation could race past six per cent in the worst case scenario.