The United States and Iran reached an agreement yesterday to extend their ceasefire and lift restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, sources told Reuters, though US President Donald Trump has yet to approve it and Iranian state media said it had not been finalised.
According to four sources familiar with the matter, the agreement would extend the truce for another 60 days and allow traffic to flow through the strategic waterway while negotiators tackle difficult issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme.
If approved by leadership in Washington and Tehran, it would amount to the biggest step towards peace since the conflict began on February 28.
News of the possible agreement came after a round of tit-for-tat attacks between the two countries, the latest such incident since the ceasefire took effect in early April.
Trump has not yet approved the deal, the sources said.
The White House declined to comment, and Iran has yet to comment on news of the proposed deal, which was first reported by Axios.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, said the text of the agreement had not been finalised or confirmed.
The Trump administration has several times said a deal to end the fighting was close, only to have Iran dispute or downplay the claims.
The deal would specify unrestricted shipping through the strait and would require the US also lift its blockade of Iranian ports.
The US would also lift some sanctions on Iranian oil sales.
The reports prompted oil prices to fall 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.
Earlier, US Central Command said its forces had shot down five Iranian attack drones and struck a ground control station in the port city of Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a sixth. Kuwaiti forces then intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the country.
The incident, while limited, highlighted the fragility of negotiations to turn the tenuous ceasefire into a lasting agreement to end the three-month-old war, which has killed thousands and upended global energy markets.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strikes were defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire.
Mediator Pakistan said its foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, would meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington today, although the significance of his visit was unclear.
Trump has repeatedly said an end to the war is close since mid-March, though the two sides have shown little public movement toward common ground.
Meanwhile, the US slapped new sanctions on Iran’s military oil trade.
The Treasury Department said it had sanctioned eight vessels involved in transporting Iranian crude oil and petroleum products to global markets.
The vessels included the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Flora, the Comoros-flagged crude oil tanker Hauncayo and the Panama-flagged tanker Ill Gap.
“We will not allow the Iranian government to increase its oil revenue for the purpose of reconstituting its armed forces and military capabilities,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a release.
Meanwhile, the US said yesterday it has imposed new sanctions on Iran’s military oil trade.
The Treasury Department said it had sanctioned eight vessels involved in transporting Iranian crude oil and petroleum products to global markets.
The vessels included the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Flora, the Comoros-flagged crude oil tanker Hauncayo and the Panama-flagged tanker Ill Gap.
Iran has called for sanctions to be lifted, foreign assets to be unfrozen, and US forces to be withdrawn from the region.
Washington has called for Iran to dismantle its nuclear programme, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes.
Iran says any peace deal must also end US ally Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, but that conflict shows no signs of flagging.
Israel said it had targeted infrastructure of Iran-backed Hizbollah in the southern city of Tyre and had carried out a strike in the capital Beirut.
Israel has displaced hundreds of thousands of people with a push deep into Lebanon in pursuit of Hizbollah.
The Lebanese army said a strike had killed one of its soldiers.
Iran’s state media said a US aircraft was destroyed near the southern city of Bushehr. However there has been no confirmation from the US.
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