What to know about the U.S.-Iran framework agreement

The United States and Iran have reached a preliminary agreement to cease hostilities for 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, paving the way to future talks that could ultimately end their monthslong war.

The full text of the agreement has not been published. But emerging details suggested that some of the most difficult issues, including the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, have been deferred to future rounds of negotiations.

The framework commits the United States to begin dismantling its naval blockade of Iran, while Iran will clear mines in the Strait of Hormuz and reopen the vital waterway to shipping, according to officials briefed on the document. In effect, that would return the situation to the status quo in late February, when the war began.

Here’s what to know.

Who announced the agreement?

The United States and Iran, alongside Pakistan, which has been playing the role of mediator, all said Sunday that an agreement had been reached, although they used varying language to describe it.

President Donald Trump said in a post on social media that “This Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region.” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council described the agreement as a “memorandum of understanding.”

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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan said that the United States and Iran had committed to an “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” a point that was also emphasized by Iranian officials. Fighting erupted in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia, soon after the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in late February and has been a key sticking point in the U.S.-Iran talks.

Neither Israel nor Hezbollah, the warring sides in Lebanon, is a party to the agreement between the United States and Iran. It is unclear how the new deal will affect the fighting there, although Israeli officials Monday rejected the prospect of any military withdrawal from Lebanon.

What is the timeline?

The United States and Iran have agreed to a multistage framework involving lengthier negotiations.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, told state television that Iran’s commitments under the agreement — which he did not detail in full — would begin Friday, when the deal is scheduled to be formally signed in Geneva.

After that, the United States and Iran will cease hostilities for at least 60 days to allow for negotiations to resolve outstanding issues. Sharif said that mediators will “lay the foundations for the technical talks” in a series of discussions this week.

Gharibabadi said that Iran’s nuclear program — a critical, unresolved issue — will be among the issues to be discussed in the next round of negotiations.

What about the Strait of Hormuz?

Before the war, around one-fifth of the world’s oil supply transited through the Strait of Hormuz, which was in effect shut down by Iran during the fighting, leading to a spike in global energy prices.

Trump said on social media Sunday that the strait would reopen to commercial shipping Friday, suggesting that Iran would first remove mines from the crucial waterway. He also said that he had ordered an immediate end to the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, which began in mid-April in an effort to block the flow of Iranian oil.

In an interview with The New York Times, the president said that the strait would be “permanently toll-free” under the framework agreement, restoring the status before the war began.

Trump’s announcement about the strait prompted the price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, to fall nearly 5% to around $83 a barrel.

Iranian officials have not commented on the specifics of the agreement.

What happens to Iran’s nuclear program?

The preliminary agreement leaves the question of Iran’s nuclear program unresolved. Gharibabadi said that “nuclear matters” would be among the issues discussed during the next round of negotiations.

According to earlier comments by U.S. officials and diplomats, there are four major points of negotiation for those discussions: how long Iran may suspend uranium enrichment, the future of Iran’s current stockpile of enriched uranium, the fate of Iran’s nuclear sites and future inspections of Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump has long said that Iran must give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which the United States and Israel fear could be used to build a nuclear weapon. Iran’s leadership has maintained for years that it has no intentions to build an atomic weapon.

In the interview with the Times, Trump conceded that no consensus had been reached. He said the United States and Iran were negotiating over the length of time for which Iran would commit to suspending its enrichment of uranium. Under the agreement being sought, he said, Iran would be limited to enriching uranium for “nonmilitary purposes.”

What will happen to Iran’s frozen assets?

The fate of billions of dollars of frozen Iranian assets, around $25 billion of which are locked in overseas accounts by long-standing international sanctions, was also deferred.

According to Gharibabadi, the lifting of sanctions will be addressed in future negotiations.

In the interview Sunday, Trump repeated his insistence that Tehran would not secure the release of its frozen assets or receive any relief from sanctions until it delivered on its commitments.

Will the agreement end the fighting in Lebanon?

Iran has insisted that any peace agreement encompass Lebanon, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has sought to disentangle the two conflicts and retain the latitude to attack Hezbollah.

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Iran and Pakistan said that the preliminary agreement announced Sunday included a commitment to end military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon.

But since neither Hezbollah nor Israel is party to the agreement, enforcing that commitment would depend on the U.S.’ ability to compel Israel to wind down its military campaign and Iran’s cooperation in restraining Hezbollah. The extent to which Iran and the United States expect Israel to scale back its military operations was also unclear.

On Monday, Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said in a statement that Israeli forces will remain in the swath of Lebanese territory they have seized and occupied since the war began.