US and Iran agree to framework peace deal as digital signatures applied ahead of Geneva ceremony
The United States and Iran have reached a framework agreement to end their conflict, with digital signatures already applied and a formal ceremony planned for Friday in Geneva.
The breakthrough after weeks of talks
After intensive negotiations, the United States and Iran agreed on a framework peace deal on Sunday. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the agreement on X, calling it a peace deal between the two nations. US President Donald Trump confirmed the development on Truth Social, and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kasem Gharibabadi told the Tasnim news agency that the text of the memorandum of understanding was complete.
After intensive talks, we are pleased to announce that the peace agreement between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been achieved.
The formal signing ceremony is scheduled for Friday in Geneva, according to Pakistani officials. The framework is viewed as an intermediate step in a diplomatic process that still faces many hurdles, with deeper technical talks to follow later this week.
Digital signatures already in place
A senior US official told reporters in Washington that Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Iranian chief negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf had already signed the document digitally. Vance confirmed the digital signature on CBS, stating it was applied on Sunday. No confirmation has yet come from Tehran, but under US law digital signatures carry the same legal weight as handwritten ones.
We signed the agreement digitally yesterday; no funds have been released, and that will not change.
Trump, speaking from the G7 summit in Evian, left open whether he would attend the Geneva ceremony. "I could be involved," he said. The US delegation will be led by Vance, with technical negotiations starting soon after the signing.
What the agreement contains
Details remain limited, but Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif stated that both sides had guaranteed an immediate and final cessation of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon. The Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil and gas, will be reopened after mine-clearing operations once the agreement is formally signed on Friday, Trump said on Truth Social.
It will be open and toll-free.
The text of the agreement is to be published within 24 to 48 hours, according to US officials. Media reports suggest the deal extends the fragile and repeatedly broken ceasefire by 60 days and serves as a starting point for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme. US officials stressed that no American taxpayer money would flow to Iran; instead, sanctions relief would be tied to Tehran meeting specific conditions such as giving up highly enriched uranium and accepting verification that it is not building a nuclear weapon.
- Framework agreement reached. Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif announces deal. Trump confirms. Digital signatures reportedly applied by Trump, Vance and Iran's Ghalibaf.
- US officials and Vance detail provisions, confirm digital signing, promise text release within 24-48 hours. Macron offers military aid for Hormuz.
- Text of memorandum of understanding expected to be published within 24-48 hours from Monday.
- Formal signing ceremony in Geneva. Strait of Hormuz to reopen after mine-clearing operations. Technical talks to follow, led by Vance for the US.
Disputed figures and Iranian claims
Public statements from Washington and Tehran diverge on several financial points. Iranian state agency Mehr reported that sanctions on Iranian oil and petrochemical sales would be suspended and that $24 billion in frozen funds would be released, half of it before final negotiations begin. Vance dismissed that number, insisting it appeared in none of the texts and that sanctions relief was conditional.
A reconstruction fund of $300 billion was mentioned by US officials as an incentive for Iran to meet its obligations, with Gulf states expected to co-finance it. Separately, the Iranian agency Tasnim cited an informed source claiming that unless specific clauses (numbered 4, 5, 10, 11 and 1) are implemented, negotiations on the nuclear issue will be broken off.
Military posture and international reactions
The United States will maintain its current military presence during the negotiation phase, with reductions considered only after a final agreement is reached. France’s President Emmanuel Macron offered military support to secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, including aircraft and the Charles de Gaulle carrier group, but Trump signalled that little help would be needed now that a deal existed, while not dismissing the idea of a few allied ships in the area.
A US official sharply criticised Oman’s role as a mediator, saying the Gulf state had acted duplicitously and almost as employees of the Iranians. On the Israel-Lebanon front, Israeli troop withdrawal was not a condition of the framework agreement, and the US reaffirmed Israel’s right to self-defence against Hezbollah.
