Trump lays out sweeping terms for Iran peace deal, hints the war may nearly be over

Give up nukes, open the Strait of Hormuz, clear mines from the narrow channel— these are among the terms of a tentative peace deal that President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post on Friday. Trump said he will lift the U.S. naval blockade in place since April 13 this year, and will hold a meeting to make a "final determination," noting that most lesser terms have already been agreed to.

Trump also clarified that no money will change hands "until further notice," possibly a reference to reports that the U.S. was looking to release billions in frozen Iranian funds held in banks around the world as part of the deal. The proposal, however, is likely to include a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran, The New York Times reported. 

Trump called for Iran to reopen the Strait to unrestricted shipping traffic with no tolls. Iran's Fars News Agency quoted sources within the government as saying Trump's comments were a "mixture of truth and lies," adding that the clause to open the Strait without tolls does not feature in the agreement.

The President also laid out a plan to dispose of Iran's enriched uranium, often referred to as 'nuclear dust', buried under mountains, in "close coordination" with Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency. This too was denied by sources Fars spoke to, who said the assertions not only do not appear in the memorandum of understanding, but are "fundamentally baseless." 

The war that many feared could spiral into a regional catastrophe may be lurching toward its conclusion. Trump's announcement is significant: it would mark the effective end of a conflict that has kept the world on edge, spiked oil prices due to the closure of one of the world's most critical shipping lanes, and brought the United States into direct military confrontation with Iran.

Trump's post was, in fact, the first condition before moving on to the next steps in the memorandum of understanding, Al Jazeera's Ali Hashem revealed in an X post. He said that the Iranian side insisted on a formal public announcement and added that a ceasefire announcement between Hezbollah and Israel is also expected as part of the agreement currently unfolding between the two nations.

The announcement appears to largely be in line with reports of the peace deal circulating in the press on Thursday. The tentative agreement sought to extend the ceasefire in the three-month-old war by 60 days and start a new round of talks on Iran's nuclear program, according to Associated Press; the agreement will also see the U.S. agreeing to relax sanctions, enabling Iran to sell more of its oil.