Al Jazeera

By Faisal Ali and Brian Osgood

    Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says a “peace deal” between US and Iran has been reached and is “now in place” with the signing ceremony scheduled for Friday in Switzerland.

    US President Donald Trump says the agreement with Iran “is now complete” and announces an end to Washington’s naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

Ex-Trump aide says US should cut support for Israel to ensure deal holds

    Joe Kent, a former head of the US National Counterterrorism Center who resigned from the Trump administration amid disagreements over the war on Iran, has welcomed the ceasefire US-Iran deal.

    “We can strengthen our chances of this deal holding by cutting all military/intel assistance to Israel, they took every opportunity to tank this deal & will likely do so again unless we take action,” Kent said on X.

    “We should also quietly get our troops out of the bases in the Gulf that can be reached by Iran. This ensures Iranian hardliners can’t strike us to drag us back into the fight. Take away every factor that we can control that could force us back into the war on Israel or Iran’s terms. Set all conditions that we can control in our favour.”

The war on Iran faces a MAGA backlash | The Listening Post

Trump’s announcement of deal comes on his 80th birthday

By Kimberly Halkett

Reporting from Washington DC, US

    It’s a big day for Trump, given the fact that he needed to meet this deadline for a deal.

    And it was almost derailed by his supposed ally in the Middle East, Israel, which, ironically, isn’t much of a birthday gift for Trump [from Israel].

    But the fact of the matter is that Trump believes that he and his team were able to keep this on track, along with other allies, like Qatar and Pakistan.

    But the optics are without question critically important for the US president.

    He needs to deliver for not only the American people, but members of his own Republican Party, who were fighting back criticism that Trump made things worse, not better, given the fact that he withdrew from the JCPOA that was negotiated under Democratic President Barack Obama in 2015.

    Many argued that he had not gotten anything extra from Iran, and, in fact, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and that blockade only drove up the price of oil, and then turned up the cost for consumer goods, as well as energy prices and the cost of a home.

    So as a result, the US president was under pressure to deliver and meet his deadline, which he says he did, which he hopes will translate to accomplishments, given the fact that the looming November elections are going to be difficult for Republicans.

Former Obama officials slam war on Iran as ‘reckless, costly debacle’

    We have more reactions from aides to former US President Barack Obama, who signed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Trump later scrapped.

    Robert Malley, a former US negotiator and special envoy for Iran, welcomed the latest MoU but said the war remains a blunder and a “reckless, costly debacle”.

    “The MOU is an important and welcome achievement, chiefly because it reopens the Strait of Hormuz, whose closure inflicted devastating costs on millions across the globe. But the MOU also is a clear and damning indictment of the war that preceded it, chiefly because its main accomplishment is to reopen a waterway that was only closed due to that war,” Malley wrote on X.

    “As for the issues that will have to be addressed after the MOU – the fate of Iran’s nuclear program; the disposition of its enriched uranium; the scope of sanctions relief – they almost certainly will be left for later, and will almost certainly be harder to resolve than prior to the war,” he added.

    Ben Rhodes, who served as Obama’s deputy national security adviser, echoed the sentiment.

    “This deal reopens a body of water that was open before the war and begins a nuclear negotiation far narrower than what Trump was seeking before the war,” he wrote. “All at a staggering cost to the entire world while leaving an IRGC-led government that feels strengthened.”

Markets in Indonesia, Philippines also rally after US-Iran deal

By Katrina Yu

Reporting from Beijing, China

    Many investors are breathing a sigh of relief thanks to this deal.

    Just look at the markets in Japan, soaring, more than 5 percent up. In South Korea, it is up 5.3 percent, also very strong. Taiwan is up 2.4 percent.

    Shanghai and Hong Kong are a little less impacted here in China, but they are still positive. Shanghai is up 1.3 percent and Hong Kong is up half a percent.

    The important thing to note is that most of these markets are dominated by technology firms, and they were doing well even before this deal was announced.

    It is more interesting to look at countries that were more heavily impacted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, including Indonesia and the Philippines. Both of these countries are up.

    Indonesia is up 2.07 percent and the Philippines is up 5.2 percent.

Democratic lawmaker says party should support deal

    Progressive US Representative Ro Khanna has expressed support for the ceasefire agreement and said that the Democratic Party should support an end to the war.

    “The ceasefire agreement with Iran with the opening of the Strait of Hormuz is welcome news. Democrats should support it. I am glad it includes a provision for mutual respect of the US & Iran’s sovereignty so we do not launch a dumb war of choice again,” Khanna said in a social media post.

    “The war was a costly lesson for the US. As expected, Trump failed to bring about regime change. The terms seem no better than what Obama secured under the JCPOA nearly a decade ago. America lost 14 precious service members and wasted billions of dollars on this foolish endeavour,” he added.

    “But today, we can be relieved that gas and food costs will start coming down for Americans. And that no more American or civilian lives will be lost.”

Beijing will see US-Iran deal as ‘very positive’

By Katrina Yu

Reporting from Beijing, China

    Beijing will welcome this deal.

    It will see this as very positive. Since the beginning, China has been one of the strongest voices calling for a complete cessation of all hostilities, a complete ceasefire, and a return to talks.

    However, Beijing is likely to be very cautious. It will note the lack of detail, with many disagreements still to be clarified. And even after this agreement is signed on Friday, there will be another 60 days for technical details to be hammered out.

    For Beijing, this will be a promising start, but it does not signal the end quite yet.

    So while China will welcome this new path, it will not change its long-term plan to reduce dependence on energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian-American group welcomes deal to end war ‘started based on lies’

    The National Iranian-American Council (NIAC), a US-based group that has advocated for a diplomatic approach to relations between Tehran and Washington, has welcomed the end to a war it says was “started based on lies” and resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people.

    “The threat of American and Israeli bombs falling on Iranian schools, residential buildings and hospitals will recede, as too will the threat of Iranian drones and missiles streaking through the skies of many countries in the Middle East. Tens of millions of people will rest easier tonight knowing that those threats are diminishing,” the group said.

    “The United States and Iran must now implement this deal in good faith, resist efforts to sabotage it, and use this opening to build a broader path away from sanctions, war and collective punishment.”

More from Trump

    The US president has told The New York Times that the final deal with Iran would limit Tehran to enriching uranium to low levels that “could never be used by the military”.

    According to the NYT, when asked whether that limit was the same as in the Obama-era deal – which limited enrichment to 3.67 percent – Trump said only that the new deal would ensure that “they can only enrich for nonmilitary purposes. Forever.”

    The US president also said that if Iranian leaders killed antigovernment protesters, it would prevent them from getting full sanctions relief. That’s despite this requirement not being included in the MoU.

Trump describes Netanyahu as ‘difficult’, says he ‘should be very thankful’

    The US president, speaking with The New York Times after announcing the deal with Iran, has slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for mounting attacks on Lebanon, which nearly derailed the final agreement.

    “He’s a very difficult guy,” Trump said of Netanyahu. “And to be honest with you, he should be very thankful to us for doing this. Because if Iran had a nuclear weapon, Israel wouldn’t be around for two hours.”

    He also threatened to resume attacks on Iran if the two sides failed to reach a final agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

    According to the NYT, Trump insisted that it was the missile and bombing attacks on Iran that made Tehran agree to the deal. “They did not want the third attack,” he said. “They do care about living.”

    “The bottom line is that those attacks that we made had a huge impact on having this deal made, a huge impact.”

What does Iran-US deal entail

    According to Iran’s Mehr news agency, the draft agreement contains 14 points.

    It includes: a permanent and immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon; the complete lifting of the naval blockade within 30 days; a US commitment to withdraw its forces from around Iran; and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

    The draft also mentions the suspension of sanctions on Iranian oil sales, reaching a final agreement on nuclear issues within 60 days of signing the deal, and the release of $24bn in frozen Iranian assets during the 60-day negotiation period.

    Mehr also reported that final negotiations would not begin until half of Iran’s frozen assets had been released and restrictions affecting the Strait of Hormuz had been lifted.

    Discussions concerning Iran’s missile programme and its support for resistance groups have been removed from the negotiating agenda, it added.

    Al Jazeera could not independently confirm the details reported by Mehr.

Falling oil prices will ‘provide relief for central banks’ around the world

    We have a reaction from Khoon Goh, the head of Asia research for ANZ, on Asian stock markets rising following the confirmation of a US-Iran peace deal.

    “While markets had already reacted late last week when President Trump indicated that a deal was close, actual confirmation spurred a further rally,” Goh told Al Jazeera.

    “The fall in oil prices will provide some relief for central banks around the world who were worried about the inflation outlook. Focus now turns to the US Federal Reserve, which decides on interest rates this week.”

Trump’s former vice president expresses scepticism about Iran deal

    Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president during his first term, has told News Nation that “no deal is better than a bad deal”.

    But he said that unless Iran “forfeits and dismantles its nuclear program, dismantles its missile program, immediately opens the straits, and stops subsidising terrorist groups across the region”, the US military should “finish the job”.

    “My concern right now is not with the intentions of the president. I think the president has earned a great deal of deference here by the American people. I just don’t trust the Iranians,” he added.

White House yet to release text of agreement

By Kimberly Halkett

Reporting from Washington, DC, US

    In the midst of all of this, we have not yet had the text of that memorandum of understanding released by the White House.

    But what we do know is there will be talks that will be conducted this week.

    We understand those talks will take place in Qatar, and will be finalising and ironing out some of those fine points, if you will, prior to the memorandum of understanding being signed in Switzerland.

    We also know that timing is everything.

    This is still Sunday evening in the United States, and Trump is a financial guy. He knows the Asian markets are opening and watching very carefully, given the fact that he had projected all week that this virtual signing would take place on Sunday.

    So, meeting his own deadlines was important. And immediately upon his social media post, we saw the Brent crude price fall 4 percent to $84 a barrel, and financial markets also rose modestly by 0.9 percent.

Stock markets soar, oil falls as US, Iran confirm deal to end war

    Stock markets across the Asia Pacific are surging following the announcement of a deal between Washington and Tehran to end the US-Israel war on Iran.

    Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark index surged more than 5 percent in morning trading, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 5.7 percent.

    Taiwan’s Taiex climbed 2.7 percent, while the ASX200 in Australia rose about 1.5 percent.

    Futures for US stocks, which are traded outside of regular market hours, climbed, with those tied to the benchmark S&P500 and tech-focused Nasdaq Composite up about 1 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

    Brent crude, the primary benchmark for global oil prices, fell more than 4 percent to about $83.70 per barrel.

    In the week that Trump walked out of an interview with NBC, he also openly speculated about how a change of ownership at CNN might affect its coverage. At CBS, turmoil at the flagship current affairs show, 60 Minutes, is a sign of the pressure journalists are under from billionaire media owners.

How is this deal likely to go down with ordinary Iranians

By Mohamed Vall

Reporting from Tehran, Iran

    Everything will depend on the implementation of the deal and that’s something that will only be seen starting from next Friday.

    Iranian leaders say Iran will abide by its obligations only after the official signing on Friday.

    They expect the sanctions to be relieved during the process of negotiations. They expect the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz to be lifted. They expect their assets to be unfrozen, and if that happens, and if particularly, Israel refrains and stops attacking Lebanon, then they will consider these as signs of sincerity on the part of Americans, and they on their side, will do what is necessary for the peace to hold and for the negotiations to be successful.

    This is being seen here as something that should be mutual and reciprocal, where every side has to honour their commitments.

    Of course, the elephant in the room is Israel, because until hours ago, they were attacking Lebanon. Their troops are already there. They occupy large swathes of territory in southern Lebanon. Are they going to easily withdraw  Are they going to stop attacking Lebanon  This is a red line for Iran. So there is a lot of conditions have to be met for the Iranians to go ahead, to go along with these negotiations, and to abide by their side of the commitments, which many here are saying is going to be a very tough task.

Traffic in Strait of Hormuz ‘may take months to return to pre-war levels’

    Rockford Weitz, professor of practice in maritime studies at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, says that de-mining operations are the first action needed to get traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

    Even after that, maritime traffic is likely to resume cautiously, he told Al Jazeera.

    “The shipping industry has to have the confidence to go. So we will be watching closely this week how things go. Once ships start flowing, a few will go at first, and then more will follow if all goes well,” Weitz said.

    He added that it could take months for conditions at the Strait of Hormuz to fully return to normal.

    “This has been a much longer disruption in shipping than anyone expected. And the shipping industry is gonna be hesitant at first to go fully in,” he said.

    “Secondly, the production facilities of both oil and gas have been damaged in a number of Gulf countries, including in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. So there will be some time for that to recover.

    “I think we’re definitely looking at months before we get to pre-war levels, and that’s with a very important caveat that assumes everything goes well, smoothly, and stably.”

Qatari delegation departs Tehran after concluding diplomatic efforts

    The Qatari delegation involved in diplomatic efforts to secure the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran has now left Tehran.

    Al Jazeera’s Osama bin Javaid said the delegation spent 17 hours in negotiations in Tehran to help finalise the agreement and will now return to Doha. He added, citing a diplomatic source, that preparatory meetings for the signing of the agreement next week will be held in the Qatari capital.

Democratic lawmaker welcomes peace deal, calls for ‘rigorous oversight by Congress’

    We have more reaction from Democratic lawmakers.

    Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, cautiously welcomed the memorandum. But he also stressed that the war was Trump’s choice and had “inflicted real costs on Americans, partners and allies, global markets, and countless innocent civilians”.

    In a statement posted on X, Meeks said that “negotiated, verifiable agreements remain the only way to sustainably” address the US’s disputes wth Iran.

    “We have seen time and again that war cannot change the Iranian regime; eliminate its missile and drone program; end Iranian support for proxies; or stop its abuse of the Iranian people.”

    Meeks went on to call for a congressional review of the deal, saying that “any final agreement must be durable, enforceable, transparent and subject to rigorous oversight by Congress”.

Top Democrat slams Trump, says ‘American less safe’ after war on Iran

    US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has responded to Trump’s announcement of a deal with Iran.

    He noted that the US had already signed a deal with Iran that had constrained its nuclear programme in 2015, under former President Barack Obama.

    But “Donald Trump recklessly ripped that agreement up and took us to war. Now gas prices are soaring, Iran is stronger and America is less safe,” he wrote on X.

    “That’s the Trump record.”