U.S. and Iran expected to sign peace deal in Switzerland Friday

A signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday will be the first hard test of a deal Donald Trump says is already done. Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said the United States and Iran reached a peace agreement after intensive talks, with Pakistan serving as mediator and the formal signing set for June 19.

Trump moved to cast the accord as settled, posting that the deal with Iran was “now complete.” He also said he was authorizing the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and ending the U.S. naval blockade there, while calling for the waterway to return to commercial shipping. Those steps, if carried out, would be among the clearest proof points that the agreement is moving from announcement to implementation.

The substance of the deal remains the central question. The emerging agreement was described as including an immediate and permanent end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, where Israeli strikes on Beirut continued to add pressure during the final phase of the talks. The arrangement was also reported to include a ceasefire in the conflict involving Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon.

Even as Washington and Islamabad described momentum, Tehran signaled caution. Iranian state media said Iran had not yet made a final decision on the proposal, and Iran’s foreign ministry had earlier said a signing could happen in the coming days rather than immediately. That gap leaves the Switzerland ceremony as more than a diplomatic photo opportunity: it is the point at which the parties will have to turn broad claims into binding language.

Pakistan’s role as mediator places Islamabad in the center of a broader regional track that also reportedly involved Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Their involvement suggests the agreement has been built as much through regional guarantees as through direct U.S.-Iran bargaining, an attempt to give both sides political cover and a route to de-escalation across multiple fronts.

For now, the milestones are straightforward. Tehran must decide whether to sign. The parties must define the ceasefire terms. The Strait of Hormuz must reopen to commercial traffic. And any halt to fighting in Lebanon must hold under the pressure of continued battlefield events. Until those steps happen, the deal remains a promise awaiting proof.