Trump says US-Israeli attacks on Iran cancelled as ‘perimeters of a deal’ reached

United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday that his country’s military and Israeli forces will halt attacks on Iran as “the perimeters of a deal” had been agreed upon.

The new deal “would include the immediate, complete and total” opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to “Iran’s nuclear threat”, Trump said in a social media post.

This comes more than five months after the conflict in West Asia began on February 28. Since then, two peace talks held between Washington and Tehran have collapsed.

The first round of talks that were held in Pakistan’s Islamabad collapsed on April 12, but the ceasefire in the region had largely held for nearly two months.

On June 15, the US and Iran arrived at an interim agreement to stop the fighting and reopen the strait for commercial vessels. They also held talks in Switzerland aimed at reaching a final peace deal within two months.

However, on July 8, Trump said that the ceasefire was “over”.

As a consequence, the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterbody connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, remains effectively blocked for most international commercial vessels, triggering a global energy crisis. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

“The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and...

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