President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States had ended its war with Iran after canceling additional military strikes and receiving what he described as high-level Iranian approval for a framework agreement that would bar Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Speaking during a tele-rally for Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Republican candidate for governor, Trump told supporters: “I don’t know if you heard, but we ended the war with Iran today.” He said Iran had “agreed never to have a nuclear weapon, something that we insisted on; that was the whole purpose. That was 95 percent of it.”
A U.S. Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would remain in place until a formal agreement is signed, Trump said. He indicated that parties would meet in Switzerland to finalize the deal, with reports suggesting a signing could come as early as Sunday, ahead of a G7 summit in the country.
Israel had not publicly commented as of Friday on a draft memorandum of understanding reported by Iranian state media. Trump said he had discussed the potential agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other regional leaders. Those conversations, he said, focused on the negotiations and the framework of a possible understanding with Iran.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that discussions had reached “the highest level of Iranian leadership and [been] approved.” As a result, he said, he had “cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.”
The post listed the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt “and others” as parties that had approved the discussions “in both concept and great detail.” The naval blockade, he added, “will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized — Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly.”
Netanyahu’s office later confirmed the call. It said Israel is not a direct participant in the negotiations but that the prime minister welcomed Trump’s commitment to ensuring any final agreement would include significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and address other destabilizing activities by the regime.
The Strait of Hormuz remains central to the standoff. Roughly 25 percent of the world’s seaborne oil shipments and about 20 percent of global liquefied natural gas exports pass through the narrow waterway, making it one of the most important energy chokepoints on the planet and a focal point throughout the conflict.
Financial markets responded positively Friday as optimism grew that a diplomatic breakthrough could be near. European stocks rallied, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 climbing 1.8 percent and most major indexes posting gains of around 2 percent in morning trading.
Energy markets also eased. U.S. crude oil futures for July delivery fell 1.61 percent, while August Brent crude futures dropped 1.75 percent as traders priced in a lower risk of supply disruptions, according to CNBC.
The latest developments followed a more confrontational phase earlier in the week. Trump personally warned Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst about impending U.S. military action against Iran just hours before American forces launched a new round of strikes on Iranian military infrastructure. Yingst said Trump called him from the Situation Room shortly before the attacks and described the operation about to unfold.
Trump later posted that Iran’s military was “a complete and total mess,” that much of its naval and air capabilities “doesn’t even exist anymore,” and that Iranian leaders would “pay the price” after taking too long to negotiate.
U.S. Central Command said additional self-defense strikes began at 5:15 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday against multiple targets in Iran at the direction of the commander-in-chief.
Whether the reported framework holds, and whether Israel and other regional actors formally endorse a final text, will determine if the halt in strikes becomes a durable cease-fire or only a pause. For now, Trump has presented the cancellation of further attacks and the continuation of the Hormuz blockade as the opening of a path to a signed agreement.
