An agreement was reached to end the Iran war and Trump ordered a halt to the US naval blockade

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United States and Iran have reached an agreement to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz, providing relief to the global economy more than three months after the fighting began.

Details of the deal were not immediately available. Lead mediator Pakistan said the signing would take place on Friday in Switzerland. Key issues such as Iran’s nuclear program are expected to be addressed at a later date.

US President Donald Trump confirmed that an agreement had been reached and said he had allowed the end of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, which was imposed in response to Iran’s grip on the vital waterway.

“Congratulations everyone!” Trump wrote on social media, adding: “I hereby fully authorize the free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and at the same time, I authorize the immediate lifting of the naval blockade of the United States.”

The United States said earlier that it would ease its blockade of Iranian ports with the reopening of the Strait, and would agree to ease sanctions to allow Iran to sell more of its oil and boost its battered economy.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed the agreement on state television but said Iran would not begin implementing it until it was signed on Friday. He said that the agreement came after talks that lasted more than 14 hours in Tehran with a representative from Qatar and another mediator.

Iranian state television displayed a banner confirming: “The United States was forced to sign an agreement to end the war.”

Pakistan first announced the agreement a day after Israel, which had been sidelined from the negotiations, attacked Beirut’s southern suburbs while pursuing Iran-backed Hezbollah. The attacks posed a threat to the completion of negotiations.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, “The two sides announced an immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” adding that the mediators would facilitate meetings this week to “lay the foundation for technical talks.”

The deal was criticized even in the last hours

Two senior Pakistani officials said earlier Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, that broader negotiations on outstanding issues such as Iran’s nuclear program would continue over the next 60 days. If the two sides fail to reach a solution within that period, the timetable could be extended.

The agreement would likely return the region to its pre-war status, but with thousands of people killed and Iran exerting a new source of negotiating pressure through its ability to influence shipping in the strait. The waterway is crucial for large shipments of oil, natural gas and related products such as fertilisers, and its closure has effectively shaken the global economy.

Among the goals declared by the United States and Israel when they launched war on February 28 with strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Tehran still has a missile program, supports armed proxies in the region such as Hezbollah, and a stockpile of highly enriched uranium for its nuclear program.

Khamenei’s son is now the supreme leader, although he has not appeared in public since the war began. His approval was necessary for Iran to sign the agreement.

Read more: What to know about the possible US-Iranian deal to end the war

Iran wanted the ceasefire agreement to include the fighting in Lebanon, where Israel has pushed its invasion deeper than at any time in more than a quarter-century of its targeting of Hezbollah. Tehran also sought to release billions of dollars in frozen funds.

The emerging deal has been sharply criticized by the Israeli government and critics in Trump’s Republican Party. Some said it did not improve the terms of the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement, which Trump withdrew the United States from during his first term and still describes as “bad.”

There was also apparent friction within Iran in the hours leading up to the announcement, with the government warning earlier on Sunday that any internal division over the agreement weakened its negotiating position. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian urged national unity and described it as a “disgrace” when someone stands in front of Parliament and calls anyone negotiating a traitor.

The central issue regarding the Iranian nuclear program remains

After the war began, Iran attacked Israel and several Arab Gulf states with missiles and drones. A ceasefire was reached on April 7. Ten days later, the US army imposed its siege. The historic face-to-face meeting between Vice President J.D. Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf ended without success.

Throughout the negotiations, Trump instead threatened to destroy Iran’s infrastructure, even its civilization, and praised the relationship with Iran as “more professional” as his administration sought to emerge from the war with US midterm elections scheduled for later this year.

Watch: Brooks and Capehart talk about the trade-offs related to the potential US-Iran deal

The Iranian government, with its own tensions around militants as it strives to replace several senior officials killed in the war, has expressed concern about the negotiations after rounds of talks last year and early this year ended in US and Israeli attacks.

Tehran stressed that it wants the agreement to focus on ending the war, while postponing discussions until later on its nuclear program – the issue at the heart of everything.

Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful and has not publicly committed to giving up enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under three nuclear sites that were severely damaged by US strikes last year.

At times, the United States has sought to remove enriched uranium from Iran as part of the deal. Russia has offered to accept it. Other times, Trump has said he wants to destroy uranium.

Frankel wrote from Jerusalem, Sewell from Beirut, and Weissert from Washington. Associated Press writers Melanie Liedman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Kara Anna in Lovell, New York, contributed.