Iran, US agree tentative deal to ‘end war’: Your questions answered

United States President Donald Trump has announced what he has described as a “great deal” to end the war with Iran as officials in Tehran and Washington outline an agreement that would bring an immediate halt to hostilities after more than 100 days of conflict .

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said a signing ceremony for the agreement will take place in Switzerland on Friday.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said the deal includes an immediate suspension of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, nearly one-fifth of whose territory Israel currently occupies.

“Based on the agreements reached, the war and military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, will end immediately and permanently as of tonight, and in addition, the naval blockade against Iran will end immediately and completely,” it said on Sunday in a statement.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said negotiations for a final agreement would continue for 60 days.

Meanwhile, Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “should be very thankful” to the US for securing the deal as the president criticised Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, on Sunday, which he told US media had nearly derailed the agreement.

The announcement was welcomed by financial markets while Trump urged ships stranded due to the Strait of Hormuz closure to “start their engines” as expectations grew that shipping through the waterway would resume.

Initially, however, the opening of the strait will be “for purposes of mine removal”, Trump said in a social media post, rather than general shipping.