Trump announces possible deal with Iran and cancels heavy strikes

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said the documents would be finalised in the «kommenden Tagen» and that a signing ceremony would likely be held. «Das sollte in den nächsten Tagen passieren. Wahrscheinlich werde es eine Unterzeichnung geben – vielleicht in Europa», the president said, adding that he could not attend the signing in person and naming Vice President JD Vance as the US representative at the table. Trump also said he would speak with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Asked whether the new Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, had personally approved the deal, Trump replied: «So wie ich es verstehe, ist die Antwort ja». According to the president, the talks and the final points had been approved in detail by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and other countries. It would be a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), an «Absichtserklärung» that the two parties would agree on.

The terms of the framework deal

The framework of the deal provides, among other things, for an immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the end of the American naval blockade, imposed in response to the Iranian de facto blockade of the same strait. Trump said the deal would mean that Iran will never have «niemals eine Atomwaffe». In return, the US is demanding an end to the Iranian blockade of the strait and guarantees on the non-development of nuclear weapons. Tehran, for its part, is demanding an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, the lifting of sanctions, and recognition of its control over the Strait of Hormuz.

The island of Kharg, in the Persian Gulf, hosts Iran's most important oil port, through which about 90% of the Islamic Republic's oil exports pass. Despite the rhetoric on the possible acquisition of the island, Trump made clear he does not want to send ground troops into Iran, while mentioning the theoretical possibility of a small contingent. The hypothesis of a US takeover of Kharg had already emerged in the preceding weeks as a pressure lever in the negotiations.

The Kharg and oil question

One of the central points of contention remains the release of Iranian oil proceeds frozen abroad: Iran is demanding the payment of a sum between six and twelve billion dollars, while the American government intends to disburse the funds in tranches and exclusively for humanitarian goods. The Iranian state press, however, has downplayed or warned against the Trumpian emphasis on the alleged progress: the Fars agency, citing negotiating sources, reported that «Es wurde kein Text für eine Vereinbarung gebilligt». On the Iranian side, it was reported that no text for a declaration of intent has yet been approved, but that, if the US accepted Tehran's proposal, Iran would probably agree as well.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry harshly condemned the American «su larga scala» attacks of the previous night, defining the truce in force as «praktisch bedeutungslos», while refraining from a formal denunciation of the armistice in force since April. A statement says that «Der Iran habe ein Recht auf Selbstverteidigung». The Iranian Revolutionary Guards responded with counter-offensives, among other things, against American bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.

In the nights between Wednesday and Thursday, and between Thursday and Friday, Iran and the United States exchanged violent air raids. According to American military sources, US forces struck military surveillance facilities, communication systems and air defence positions in Iran, after having already attacked on previous nights. In Iran, according to local media, at least three people were injured in the province of Tehran. The American navy also attacked a tanker in the Gulf of Oman that, it claimed, was attempting to transport Iranian oil: India reported that three Indian members of the crew were killed and another 21 were rescued.

Nights of raids and regional tensions

Tensions extended to the maritime front: the Iranian agency Mehr reported, citing official sources, that a vessel loaded with basic foodstuffs was hit by an American projectile in the early hours of the morning in the Strait of Hormuz; the crew was rescued. The Iranian military leadership threatened, after the American attacks, to strike any ship that attempted to transit the strait, as reported by state radio. The American Centcom, however, wrote on X that «Handelsschiffe fahren weiterhin heute Nacht in die Straße von Hormus ein und heraus».

Bahrain and Kuwait were hit by Iranian attacks during the night: in Manama and in the city of Hammad, the wreckage of downed drones caused vehicle fires and damage to residential buildings, also injuring an eleven-year-old girl. Jordan declared it had intercepted 20 missiles launched by Iran during the night. The overall toll of the conflict remains high, which according to estimates has been going on for three months, has cost thousands of lives and has sent global energy prices soaring. Also in Lebanon, six people were killed in Israeli attacks and ten were wounded near a hospital, while in the Gaza Strip three people were killed in Israeli raids.

On the markets front, the news of the cancellation of the attacks and the possible deal had an immediate impact: the price of oil dropped significantly, with North Sea Brent falling below 90 dollars a barrel (159 litres), touching the lowest level since mid-April. Wall Street stock indices extended their gains and the euro strengthened against the dollar. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US naval blockade of Iranian ships and ports will remain fully in effect «fino alla conclusione finale di un accordo».

Markets and diplomatic deadlines

The détente comes at a delicate moment for the US diplomatic agenda. Trump will turn 80 in Washington on Sunday, 14 June, and immediately after – from 15 to 17 June – he will travel to France, to the town of Évian-les-Bains on Lake Geneva, for the G7 summit, which brings together the United States, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, Japan and the European Union. It is in this context that the hypothesis of a signing in Europe falls, possibly right on the margins of the summit.

In the background, however, remain the inconsistencies between the American and Iranian versions. While Trump speaks of a «großartige Vereinbarung» that would end the war with Iran, Tehran downplays or qualifies the president's statements, presenting the initial signals as «moderati» and stressing that no binding text has yet been approved. Diplomatic sources, cited by Reuters, reported that the talks are nevertheless proceeding and that the two parties have exchanged drafts of a memorandum of understanding, with progress and intensification of negotiations despite the military escalations.

Trump explained that he had cancelled the heavy attacks announced for the evening because of progress in the discussions with Iran, but he also threatened further military action: in a phone call with Fox News he spoke of «größeren» and «più potenti» bombings, while on Truth Social he wrote that American forces would have struck the Islamic Republic «sehr hart» on the night leading into Friday, interspersing bellicose rhetoric with signals of negotiating openness.

Uncertainties and competing versions

According to an account from Iranian and Western sources, efforts for a preliminary ceasefire agreement intensified during the day on Thursday. The underlying question remains open: whether Trumpian rhetoric and Iranian realpolitik can translate, in a few days, into an effectively signed deal, or whether yet another round of threats and counter-threats will end once again without a shared text, as has already happened since mid-March, when the American president has repeatedly announced an imminent deal.

The signing, if confirmed, could take place as early as the weekend, Trump said. Among the uncertainties remain the durability of the truce – formally in force for two months, but worn down by reciprocal raids – the fate of the frozen Iranian funds and the role of the countries in the region, from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, from Turkey to Egypt, which the United States indicates as parties to the deal. For now, after nights of bombings and exchanges of accusations, the news of a possible framework deal has changed the direction of the markets and relaunched, with all the necessary caution, the hope for a de-escalation.

The report was broadcast by Deutschlandfunk on 11 June 2026. The editorial offices cited by the agencies are Washington and Tehran. In the coming days – between Friday and the weekend – it will become clear whether the road map announced by Trump will translate into a signed document or whether it will remain yet another declaration of principle in a conflict that, in three months, has profoundly marked the equilibria of the Gulf.