WASHINGTON: The United States and Iran reached an agreement on Thursday to extend their ceasefire pending the approval of President Donald Trump, after Iran had targeted a US air base in Kuwait following US strikes on what Washington called an Iranian drone operation.
According to four sources familiar with the matter, the two sides agreed a memorandum-of-understanding to extend the truce for 60 days but the plan still needed Trump's signoff.
The agreement will state how to address Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which will be among the first issues discussed during the 60-day window, according to an earlier report by Axios, which broke the news.
The White House declined to comment. The reports prompted oil prices to reverse course and trade lower on hopes of a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for roughly a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supply.
Trump has repeatedly said the end of the war is close but told media at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday he was not yet satisfied by the negotiations and that the US was not discussing easing sanctions, one of Tehran's demands.