U.S.-Iran Sign Deal to End War, Reopen Hormuz Strait


   
Barani Krishnan
DTN Refined Fuels Market Reporter

   SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) -- The U.S. and Iran have signed a remote agreement to 
permanently end active military hostilities between them and reopen shipping 
for energy and other critical commodities on the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

   Facilitated by international mediators, the accord took effect Wednesday 
(6/17) after physical and digital copies of the text were executed by the 
leadership of both nations in their capitals.

   The deal set a 60-day negotiating window to finalize sensitive discussions 
over Tehran's nuclear program that the U.S. justified as reason for initially 
partnering with Israel to bomb Iran, before the blockade of the Hormuz emerged 
as a primary macroeconomic driver for ending hostilities.

   U.S. President Donald Trump maintained on Wednesday that the deal was not 
cast in stone. "If I don't like it, we'll go back to shooting at them, dropping 
bombs," he told reporters in Washington before the signing.

   In Tehran, Iranian state media confirmed the executive action, broadcasting 
images of President Masoud Pezeshkian verifying the finalized diplomatic 
document alongside official signatures from Washington. On the end, Iranian 
officials emphasized that the implementation of the deal remains tied to the 
reciprocal lifting of the U.S. naval blockade on its domestic shipping.

   The diplomatic breakthrough directly alters physical supply dynamics by 
guaranteeing the immediate reopening of the Hormuz chokepoint without maritime 
tolls planned by Iran, for at least the next two months. This vital transit 
lane has remained largely impassable over the past 3-1/2 months to 
approximately 20 million bpd of petroleum liquids and global liquefied natural 
gas.

   Crude prices have fallen more than 11% this week alone over the anticipated 
shipping relief for the Hormuz, marking a cumulative slide of about 30% since 
the end of April, after initially running about 60% higher on the year.

   At 8:40 a.m. ET on Thursday, NYMEX WTI for July was down $1.58, or 2.1%, at 
$75.21 bbl versus its conflict peak of $119.48 in March. ICE Brent for August 
slipped by $1.08, or 1.4%, to $78.47 after an April peak of $126.41 bbl.




(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.