US-Iran ceasefire draft pledges end to hostilities, Strait of Hormuz reopening

The Group of Seven summit wraps up today in France, with President Donald Trump scheduled to hold a news conference later this morning.

A pending deal with Iran has dominated the meeting, with new details emerging.

According to the Associated Press, a draft ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran calls for an immediate end to hostilities, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and sanctions relief for Iran. In return, Iran reiterates it will never build a nuclear weapon. The 14-point document is set to be signed Friday in Switzerland, launching a 60-day window to finalize the agreement.

Trump spoke about the deal earlier, calling it a very strong deal. He said market reaction has been positive, with stocks rising thousands of points in recent days and oil prices falling. The strait, he added, is already partially reopened and expected to fully open within the next two days.

Preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon was one of the primary reasons the United States joined Israel in launching military operations against Iran.

Senior administration officials have said the deal is structured so Iran must uphold its end of the bargain before receiving any benefits, such as sanctions relief or the return of frozen Iranian assets. Trump also said repeatedly that the U.S. is not compensating Iran in any way and is not paying for reconstruction of the country a claim that contradicts what Iranian officials have reported.

The Strait of Hormuz has not reopened to its previous capacity, and doing so is likely to take time. Hundreds of ships have been backed up in the Persian Gulf waiting to pass through the strait. Working through that backlog will take time, as will ramping up oil production. Some Middle East oil companies paused, slowed down, or stopped production entirely during the conflict, since there was little point in extracting oil that could not be shipped to international markets.