President Donald Trump on Sunday announced a breakthrough in diplomatic negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, marking the most significant development of the 68-day ceasefire of U.S. strikes against the regime.
“The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” Trump posted. Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”
“Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced moments ahead of Trump’s post. “The official signing ceremony will be on Friday, 19 June in Switzerland.”
Following intensive talks, we are pleased to announce that the Peace Deal between the United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran has been REACHED. Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 14, 2026
Despite a number of defensive strikes by the U.S. against reported and launched Iranian threats, including retaliation for the June 8 downing of an AH-64 Apache helicopter by an Iranian drone, the ceasefire largely held. Notably, the agreement was reached despite a Sunday attack by Israel against Lebanon, for which Trump blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for having “no fucking judgment.”
Trump likewise took to Truth Social on Saturday to contrast the July 2015 nuclear agreement by former President Barack Obama as “an easy, beautiful, smooth road to a Nuclear Weapon, which Iran would have had six years ago,” with his deal, characterized as “the exact opposite, A WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON!”
Following the Feb. 28 launch of Operation Epic Fury, during which the U.S. military struck over 13,000 targets inside Iran, Trump increasingly sought to apply pressure to force the Islamic regime to accept that an end to the conflict would require a diplomatic solution which denied Iranian ambitions for a nuclear weapon. The 106-day conflict at various times both flared and simmered across the Persian Gulf, as well as neighboring states and global markets, as the talks seemingly progressed.
The commander in chief at times threatened massive attacks on the Middle Eastern nation’s civilian and energy infrastructure, notably writing April 7 on Truth Social, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” (RELATED: ‘It Is Time For Peace!’: Pope Leo XIV Leads Impassioned Pleas For End To Armed Conflicts Across World’)
Operation Epic Fury: April 6th Update pic.twitter.com/PjsR1eYB1W
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 6, 2026
As the world held its breath, Trump called off the attack less than two hours before it was due to begin, taking to Truth Social to announce what began as two-week ceasefire following conversations with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir. He noted Iran had submitted a 10-point peace proposal but that suspending the attack was subject to the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz. [sic]”
Subsequently, however, over 21 hours of negotiations the weekend of April 11 headed by Vice President JD Vance with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan failed to result in a peace agreement. The U.S. Navy on April 13 then began enforcing a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and thereby any maritime commercial port activity from which Iran might profit. While making exceptions for humanitarian aid, the Navy to date has redirected at least 141 commercial vessels away from Iranian ports and disabled nine that failed to comply. (RELATED: Video Shows US Marines Rappel Onto Iranian Blockade Runner)
An MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter lifts off from the flight deck of USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) as the ship transits the Arabian Sea in support of the blockade against Iran. As of June 13, CENTCOM forces have redirected 141 commercial vessels and disabled 9 to ensure compliance. pic.twitter.com/BBHvZW6Z62
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 13, 2026
Despite having lost at least 155 naval assets of their own, Iran claimed to have deployed mines in the Strait and sought to impose a toll in Chinese yuan and cryptocurrency for vessels to transit the key waterway without being fired upon. With maritime commercial traffic thus largely absent from the Strait — through which roughly 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade passes — oil prices skyrocketed to as high as $119.47 per barrel, an 84% increase from the lowest price of $64.85 per barrel recorded the day before the strikes against Iran began.
Finding another iteration of Iran’s peace proposal “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE [sic],” Trump again warned his patience was wearing thin, declaring May 14 on Truth Social that, “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” That attack, which Trump later revealed he was roughly an hour away from ordering, was also postponed at the request of the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
While citing the resumption of “serious negotiations … that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond,” Trump also warned May 18 the U.S. military was “prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached. [sic]”
Trump then announced on May 23 “an Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries” with which he had an earlier conference call to discuss the conflict.
I congratulate President Donald Trump on his extraordinary efforts to pursue peace and for holding a very useful and productive telephone call earlier today, with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkiye, Egypt, the UAE, Jordan and Pakistan. Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) May 24, 2026
Various reporting of the alleged agreement, however, prompted some observers to issue criticisms of the at-the-time unconfirmed provisions, and how they were seemingly being praised by Democrats. Furthermore, with the Department of War having spent over $29 billion to eliminate the Iranian threat to U.S. interests, the rumored deal which would reportedly enable Iran to become flush with cash and maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz appeared to betray the various initial justifications by the administration for the war, not to mention the lives of 13 American service members lost during the conflict. (RELATED: Remembering The 13 Lives Lost In Operation Epic Fury)
Trump took issue with those characterizations, which he considered to be from “losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about.”
“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon [sic],” he wrote May 24 on Truth Social. “Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet. So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about. Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals!”
The president later revealed the progress of peace talks with a May 29 post to Truth Social stating he was meeting in the White House Situation Room to discuss the latest version of Iran’s proposal. Trump at the time also repeated his requirements for Iran to give up its ambitions for a nuclear weapon, the removal or destruction of the Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and the complete restoration of the flow of maritime commerce — without tolls — through the contested waterway.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously remarked on the diplomatic situation with Iran during a May 27 Cabinet meeting at the White House.
“First of all, the bottom line is Iran’s never going to have a nuclear weapon. And if recent events have done anything, it’s just reminds us once again that they are the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, and they can never have a nuclear weapon. Now, the president’s preference … as told repeatedly, is always to negotiate these things and to figure out if you can have agreements,” Rubio said, before reminding that Trump maintains “other options” if a diplomatic route doesn’t succeed.
“But here’s the bottom line because I keep getting asked, ‘What is this all about?’ It’s very simple: Iran, and these people in charge of Iran, can never have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio continued. “And they will never have a nuclear weapon, and they most certainly will not have one as long [Trump is] president of the United States.”
.@SecRubio provides an update at the Cabinet meeting: One of the places I stopped last night was to initial the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity in Armenia… and in addition to that, we also signed a critical minerals MoU with them. pic.twitter.com/iF5k7pscDg
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 27, 2026
Sunday also marks the commander in chief’s 80th birthday. Responding to a question asking for his birthday wish June 10, Trump simply answered, “Peace for the world. Middle East, yes, peace for the whole world.”
Editor’s note: This breaking news report will be updated with additional details as they become available.
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