President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed a breakthrough in US-Iran relations, announcing a 60-day ceasefire that will halt military operations on all fronts, according to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who mediated the agreement. Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed an “immediate end” to the war in the early hours of Monday, stating that Lebanon was included in a peace deal set to be signed on Friday. Qatari mediators traveled to Tehran to finalize terms of a memorandum of understanding (MOU), though the precise details remain unclear.
The ceasefire is intended to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which had been closed by the conflict, and provide a window for a verifiable nuclear settlement. However, The Guardian’s editorial board characterized the pause as a “failed war of choice disguised as a diplomatic victory,” noting that the US-Israel attacks devastated Iran and destabilized Lebanon while failing to achieve their declared military aims. Uncertainty persists over whether Israel will end its operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon as part of the deal.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham expressed cautious support, saying he was “pleased to hear about the MOU” but added, “I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating.” Iranian hardliners have registered opposition, viewing the accord as capitulation to the US. Meanwhile, President Trump called for the impeachment of Democratic Senator Jack Reed (R.I.) after Reed criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 JCPOA.
The ceasefire has drawn mixed reactions from the public and political figures. George Conway, a Democratic candidate for New York’s 12th Congressional District, vowed to pursue a third impeachment of Trump if elected, signaling ongoing partisan divisions over the administration’s foreign policy. Polling data on the ceasefire itself remains unavailable, but the conflict’s impacts on energy and fertilizer markets have left many “poorer and hungrier,” per the Guardian editorial.