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.

On Sunday, Trump claimed that he had been asked by Iran and other countries in West Asia “to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to”.

The US president said that he has agreed to “cancel the attack”, subject to Tehran and Washington “rapidly making a deal”, for the “survival of a successful and prosperous Iran”.

He also said that Israel had agreed to work with the US to finalise the peace agreement with Iran.

Iran is yet to comment on Trump’s announcement.

The US and Israel had launched an attack on Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran’s action posed an existential threat to Israel. Iran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, targeting major cities in Gulf countries and ships.

Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

Written by Anamika Pathak. Edited by Sneha.

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