On Sunday, June 14, the United States and Iran announced what both sides described as an agreement for the “immediate and permanent” end of military operations on all fronts — including Lebanon. After nearly four months of armed conflict in the Middle East, the announcement represents the strongest signal yet that the war is approaching its conclusion.
According to Germany’s Der Spiegel, Washington and Tehran agreed on a statement of intent to end hostilities, with a formal signing ceremony scheduled for June 19. US President Trump indicated that the Strait of Hormuz — a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments — would only reopen once the agreement is formally signed.
The market response was swift. Oil prices plummeted on the prospect of the strait’s reopening, according to Brazil’s O Globo, which reported the commodity tumbling as traders priced in a return to normalized shipping routes.
UN Secretary General António Guterres hailed the deal as a “crucial step” toward peace in the Middle East. “The Secretary General hopes that the parties will seize this new momentum and redouble their efforts toward a final resolution of the conflict,” said a statement attributed to his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric.
European nations moved quickly as well. According to Le Monde, European leaders signaled their readiness to lift certain sanctions on Iran as part of the broader diplomatic framework surrounding the agreement.
Yet the deal’s reception was far from universally warm. In Israel, the New York Times reported “broad discontent” even before the details of the agreement were publicly known. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had stated at the war’s outset that the objective was “to remove the existential threats” to Israel — a goal that, by many assessments, the deal may not fully achieve. Meanwhile, Iran’s armed forces claimed to have “humiliated” the United States and Israel, according to Brazil’s Carta Capital.
An analysis published by New Zealand’s Stuff put it bluntly: the deal “has not yet delivered on Donald Trump’s main goals, with Tehran’s regime still in control.”
