Roving Periscope: The US-Iran announce draft peace deal; Israel “not bound!”
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: After dragging their feet for weeks, the US and Iran announced a draft peace deal to ‘permanently’ end their 107-day-long war in West Asia on Monday, excluding some key contentious issues, but opening the Strait of Hormuz and giving an opportunity to the Group of Seven (G-7) to start their summit in France on a positive note, the media reported.
France is hosting the G-7 summit at Évian-les-Bains, on the shores of Lake Geneva, from June 15 to 17, 2026.
Crude oil prices dropped over 4 percent after the deal announcement. The US dollar also fell to a 10-day low.
The deal is expected to be signed at Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, June 19, 2026.
As Iran’s power hierarchy is unclear, it was not known if the proposed deal is being supported by the highest echelons of the government in Tehran, or by the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khameini, who is reported to be alive, or both.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently in Europe, were among world leaders who welcomed the much-awaited peace deal which would potentially restore energy supplies from West Asia and rescue global economy.
US President Donald Trump and PM Modi are expected to meet on the sidelines of the G-7 summit on June 17.
Leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy have also supported the US-Iran peace deal with nuclear conditions, the reports said.
But Israel said it is “not bound” by the US-Iran agreement, and is likely to intensify its attacks in Lebanon.
Under the reported agreement, both sides would halt military action, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and begin a new phase of discussions focused on Iran’s nuclear programme.
The deal comes amid renewed tensions after an Israeli strike in Lebanon on Sunday drew criticism from Iran and Trump.
The United States and Iran will hold an official signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on social media early on Monday.
The precise terms of the deal were not immediately known. Sharif said the pact called for “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”
The draft deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the US blockade of Iranian ports and extend a ceasefire, while leaving Iran’s nuclear program to be addressed during a 60-day period of additional talks.
Trump has been cajoling and threatening Iran for the deal. He did so for nearly 40 times since February 28 when the US and Israel jointly started the war by attacking Iran.
Earlier on Sunday, Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Israel’s latest attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut, which Israel said targeted Iranian-proxy Hezbollah terrorists, showed the United States lacks “the will and ability to fulfil your commitments,” in a post on X.
Iran’s foreign ministry said it held the US responsible for the attack. Tehran also warned of a “strong response,” and its top joint military command threatened that the “finger (is) on the trigger” ready to fire at the “enemy’s heart.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump said: “This morning’s attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran.”
Israel said it was not party to the planned US-Iran deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has differed with Trump over American demands that Israel curb its military action in Lebanon to allow the United States to reach a deal with Iran.
The conflict between Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah in Lebanon was reignited by the start of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran in February.
Under the terms of the draft deal, an Iranian official was quoted as saying, the US would agree to release USD 25 billion of frozen Iranian assets, while Iran would agree not to produce or acquire nuclear weapons. The official said Iran agreed to maintain the nuclear status quo, including no uranium enrichment or expanding nuclear facilities, until a final deal is reached.
