Pakistan announced on Sunday night, Monday, that Iran and the United States had reached an agreement to end the war between them, which will be signed in Geneva on June 19. The two countries concerned confirmed this three and a half months after the American-Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic and the outbreak of the war that spread to several countries in the Middle East, most notably Lebanon.
US President Donald Trump immediately announced that the Strait of Hormuz, the vital sea lane that Iran closed after the start of the war, would be opened after the signing of the agreement on Friday. He also announced the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports that began on April 13. “Let the oil flow,” he said.
Tehran, for its part, confirmed through its Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi that the agreement “stops the war immediately and permanently,” adding that his country “achieved great victories during this war.”
Pakistan said that the agreement includes Lebanon, a demand that Tehran has adhered to during the arduous negotiations that have continued since the announcement of a fragile ceasefire on April 8.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that the United States and Iran had reached a “peace agreement” that immediately ends all military operations in the Middle East, including in Lebanon.
“With the agreement now concluded, the mediators will work to facilitate a series of meetings this week,” Sharif said in a statement published on the X platform, adding, “These discussions that will precede implementation will lay the foundation for the technical talks and the official signing ceremony.”
Trump said that the agreement would achieve “security and peace” in the Middle East.
Iran responded to the American-Israeli attacks that killed many of its political, security and military leaders, led by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, by launching missiles and drones at Israel and several Gulf countries, accusing the latter of facilitating American military operations against Iran by hosting American bases on its territory.
On March 2, the Lebanon front opened between Israel and Hezbollah when the Lebanese party launched missiles and marches towards the Hebrew state, in solidarity with Iran. Israel responded with a devastating bombing campaign and a ground invasion that penetrated dozens of kilometers into Lebanon.
A ceasefire was announced between Israel and Hezbollah on April 17, but it did not achieve much on the ground, despite negotiation sessions between the Lebanese and Israeli governments to determine the future of relations between the two countries, during which Lebanon demanded Israel’s withdrawal from its land, while Israel demanded the disarmament of Hezbollah, which the Lebanese government committed to months ago.
Thousands of people have been killed, especially in Lebanon and elsewhere, since the start of the war.
-Sixty days-
Not much was known about the content of the agreement, which Tehran presents as a “memorandum of understanding.”
However, it is clear that the basic points that prompted Israel and the United States to wage war have not yet been resolved, most notably the Iranian nuclear file. Washington and Israel accuse Iran of seeking to possess an atomic bomb, which Tehran denies, stressing that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, even though it has a stock of uranium enriched by 60%, while the civilian program requires a percentage of enrichment that does not exceed 5%.
Gharibabadi said in an interview with state television that negotiations with Washington “will begin within a period of 60 days with the aim of reaching a final agreement,” noting at the same time that “caution still exists” toward the United States.
Among the outstanding issues also remains the Iranian missile program, which Israel and the United States were demanding to stop, in addition to Iran’s support for armed groups in the Middle East, led by Hezbollah, in addition to the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iraqi groups. All of these groups participated to varying degrees in the war by targeting Israel or American interests in the region.
Iran stresses that any agreement includes a final lifting of US sanctions that are stifling the Iranian economy.
Iran presents the agreement as a victory for it.
The spokesman for the headquarters of Khatam al-Anbia, the Central Command of the Iranian Armed Forces, said, “Our people, their armed forces, and the Resistance Front have forced, thanks to God, the humiliated American and Zionist enemies to accept defeat and surrender. The enemies have no choice but to acknowledge defeat and submit before the Iranian people.”
-Israel-
No position has yet been issued by Israel, which was the United States’ partner in starting the war, and asked it not to be lenient with Tehran and Hezbollah.
Today, Israel carried out an air strike on the southern suburb of Beirut, which prompted an Iranian threat to respond, and angered Trump, who criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for doing so while the agreement was being finalized.
The Israeli strike killed three people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Trump told the American news site Axios that the strike “led to a delay in the signing.” He considered that Netanyahu “completely lacks wisdom.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the agreement between the United States and Iran as a “decisive step” towards peace.
