US President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that a deal with Iran had been reached and that he had authorised the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened immediately.
Iran confirmed key elements of the deal. An official signing ceremony is expected to take place in Geneva on Friday.
If fully implemented, the agreement would bring an end to a conflict the US President launched alongside Israel on February 28.
The war has killed thousands of people across the Middle East, caused economic turmoil worldwide and drawn in countries with pro-Iran factions such as Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed key points of the deal.
Iran’s official news agency, Irna, quoted him as saying that that, effective immediately, there would be a permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon.
The US naval blockade would also end as of Monday morning, while Iran’s commitments under the agreement would begin after the formal signing on Friday, Irna reported.
"With the opening of the Strait upon the signing of the deal on Friday, for purposes of mine removal, oil will flow on both ends again for the region, and the world!" Mr Trump said on Truth Social.
The war has cost US taxpayers $30 billion, sent global energy prices soaring and failed to dislodge Iran's hardline regime. Mr Trump has promised that one outcome would be that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon, but neither he nor Tehran addressed the nuclear issue in their statements.
In Pakistan, which has been mediating the talks, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the US and Iran had agreed to a peace deal and to the "immediate and permanent" termination of military operations on all fronts.
Mr Sharif said that, with the agreement now in place, mediators would lead a series of meetings this week ahead of a signing ceremony on Friday.
"These pre-implementation discussions will lay the foundation for the technical talks and the official signing ceremony," he said.
The announcements capped an intense day of diplomacy. Mr Trump earlier lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for carrying out an air strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, on what Israel said was an Iran-backed Hezbollah target.
Critics said the move was aimed at undermining the deal, while Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the attack on the southern suburbs showed the US lacked "the will and ability to fulfil your commitments".
Mr Trump told Axios he was shocked to learn of the attack and expressed his dismay to Mr Netanyahu.
“It is so bad – I couldn’t believe it. An hour before we are supposed to sign the deal,” he said. “He has no judgment. I let him know that.”
Mediators from Pakistan, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey played a vital role in narrowing the differences between Iran and the US, sources told The National on Sunday. Of the four mediators, Pakistan and Qatar played a more active role in the final stretch of talks, they said.
Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed, praised the country's leadership for its handling of the regional crisis as an agreement neared. The UAE bore the heaviest burden of Iranian strikes on the Gulf during the main phase of the war.
In a post on X, Dr Gargash said the agreement could close the chapter on the war and open a political path that he hoped would be successful. He said the UAE leadership demonstrated wisdom, steadfastness and flexibility in managing the repercussions of the conflict.
An Iranian official told Reuters the deal would provide for the US to waive oil sanctions for a specified period. The US could also agree not to impose new sanctions until a final deal is reached. Iran has previously asked for at least $24 billion in frozen assets to be released as part of an agreement.
Some Iranian hardliners have come out in opposition to a deal. In the north-eastern city of Mashhad, demonstrators were reported chanting “death to the compromiser” and “compromiser, resign, resign”. Protests were also reported in Tehran.
Negotiations have been on and off again since April, when the US and Israel paused their six-week assault on Iran. Pakistan hosted peace talks in Islamabad that initially ended in failure, but the country has continued to offer its services as a mediator behind the scenes.
Leaders of two of the mediators – Egypt and Qatar – are to meet separately with Mr Trump on the sidelines of this week's G7 summit in France, the White House said.
“The mediators played different roles during the different stages that weeks of negotiations had gone through, but it was Pakistan and Qatar that had the bigger role in the final stages,” one of the sources said.
“It's a memorandum of understanding of 14 points that provides a timeline for resolving every issue. It may take as long as one year to negotiate a permanent settlement of the conflict between Iran and the US.”
The ceasefire was at risk of veering off course in recent days as Iran, the US and Israel all carried out some of their heaviest strikes in weeks.
