A devastating, 110-day military conflict between the United States and Iran has officially drawn to a close following the signing of a historic peace agreement. The war, which erupted on February 28, 2026, after a massive wave of joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” drastically upended Middle Eastern stability and triggered an acute global fuel crisis. After nearly four months of relentless drone and missile exchanges that claimed thousands of lives across the region, both nations relented under mounting economic and geopolitical pressure, choosing diplomacy over total war.
The breakthrough came following weeks of high-stakes, intense mediation primarily spearheaded by Pakistan and Qatar. On June 17, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a comprehensive 14-point Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Palace of Versailles following the G7 summit, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian simultaneously signed the document in Tehran. The landmark bilateral agreement outlines an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including critical proxy battlegrounds in southern Lebanon.
A cornerstone of the freshly signed agreement is the immediate resolution of the suffocating “dual blockade” that paralyzed international energy corridors. Under the agreed terms, the United States military has officially dismantled its naval blockade of Iranian ports, allowing tankers to cross the Gulf of Oman unhindered. In return, Tehran has agreed to fully restore commercial maritime transit through the vital Strait of Hormuz. The swift reopening of these waters has already prompted global markets to breathe a sigh of relief as commercial vessels cautiously resume pre-war shipping volumes.
While the ceasefire has brought an end to active shelling, the agreement defers the most contentious geopolitical issues to a rigorous 60-day negotiation window. Over the next two months, Washington and Tehran must hammer out a timeline for permanent sanctions relief inextricably tied to verifiable nuclear concessions, including the down-blending of Iran’s enriched uranium under UN supervision. The deal has already drawn sharp domestic criticism from hawks in both capitals, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly criticized the pact, leaving the long-term durability of the peace highly uncertain
