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US President Donald Trump said on Monday that oil tankers are again exiting the Strait of Hormuz, following a peace deal, but uncertainty persisted over whether Iran will keep imposing tolls on ships in the vital waterway.

Mediator Pakistan announced on Sunday that the United States and Iran had agreed to an “immediate and permanent termination” of military operations, but the text of their peace deal has yet to be released.

The deal is expected to be signed on Friday in Switzerland and be followed by further “technical” talks on a long-term agreement.

Trump said that with the signing, the Strait of Hormuz — a vital waterway for Gulf energy exports — would be reopened and a US naval blockade of Iran would be lifted.

On Monday, while flying to a G7 summit in France, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that “ships are starting to move, many loaded up with Oil, out of the Strait of Hormuz.”

“They are going along the Southern ‘Highway,’ which is totally safe, secure, and pristine,” he wrote, apparently referring to a shipping route nearer to Oman in the narrow waterway.

Trump said last week that the US military had secretly helped more than 200 commercial ships carrying over 100 million barrels of oil pass through the Strait of Hormuz since May.

“There are other areas of travel, also!!!” he posted Monday, without further details.

Iran, in response to the US-Israeli strikes that began on February 28, effectively halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Closure of the strait, which normally carries around a fifth of global oil and gas exports, caused energy prices to spike around the world.

Iran later moved to set up a payment system for transiting ships.

– Toll-free? –

US Vice President JD Vance was asked on CNBC Monday morning if there was an understanding with Iran that the strait would reopen toll-free for just an initial period of 60 days or indefinitely under the deal.

“Our expectation is that the strait is going to be opened in a toll-free way for the long term, and that’s the sort of thing that we’re going to figure out in these technical negotiations,” he said.

Iran’s foreign ministry meanwhile said on Monday that the deal would allow it to charge maritime service fees on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, rather than imposing “tolls.”

Uncertainty also surrounds other key aspects of the deal, including Iran’s access to its frozen funds and relief from international and US sanctions.

Vance did not give specifics on the terms of the relief Monday, but emphasized that it would be dependent on a “verification process.”

“We say to the Iranians, you are welcome to have access to an unsanctioned economy, you’re welcome to be reinvited into the world economy, but only if you honor the commitments that you make in this agreement.”

“You don’t have access to the money to rebuild that nuclear program,” Vance said, “but if you’re willing to give up that program long term, if you’re willing to accept the inspections and verification regime that’s necessary to give us the confidence you’re never going to have a nuclear weapon, then we want you to be a prosperous country, and we will reinvite you into the community of nations.”

Asked who would be representing the United States at the signing ceremony, Vance said there will be a “full spectrum of representatives.”

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Iran has indicated its willingness to forgo the pursuit of nuclear weapons and reopen the strategically important Strait of Hormuz as part of a proposed peace framework reportedly being negotiated with the United States.

The development emerged on Sunday amid growing optimism that months of heightened tensions and conflict between the two countries could move toward a diplomatic resolution, although officials on both sides have cautioned that negotiations are still ongoing and a final agreement has not yet been concluded.

According to reports, the draft framework under discussion would see Iran commit to refraining from producing or acquiring nuclear weapons while reopening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping. In return, the United States would release approximately $25 billion in frozen Iranian assets, ease certain sanctions, and suspend the imposition of new sanctions during a negotiation period aimed at reaching a broader agreement.

The proposed arrangement has attracted global attention because of the significance of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes. The waterway serves as a critical passage for global energy supplies, with disruptions in the area often triggering concerns in international oil markets. Shipping activity through the strait has reportedly been affected by recent hostilities, contributing to uncertainty in global energy and financial markets.

Sources familiar with the negotiations said the draft agreement would establish a 60-day framework for further talks between Washington and Tehran. During that period, both countries would work toward a more comprehensive settlement covering Iran’s nuclear programme, sanctions relief, and broader regional security issues.

Under the reported terms, Iran would maintain the current status of its nuclear activities pending a final agreement, while discussions continue on the future of uranium enrichment and other aspects of its nuclear programme. The United States, on the other hand, would temporarily ease some economic restrictions and facilitate the release of frozen Iranian funds.

Diplomatic efforts to finalize the framework have reportedly involved mediators from Qatar and Pakistan, both of whom have played active roles in encouraging dialogue between the two sides. Discussions are said to be focused on creating conditions that could reduce tensions and prevent a return to military confrontation.

Despite the optimism surrounding the negotiations, uncertainty remains. Iranian officials have stated that no final decision has been reached regarding a formal signing ceremony, while previous statements from U.S. officials suggesting an imminent agreement have sometimes been met with caution from Tehran.

The diplomatic developments come against the backdrop of continued instability in the Middle East. Fresh military actions involving regional actors have underscored the fragile nature of the situation and highlighted the challenges facing negotiators as they seek to transform a tentative framework into a lasting agreement.

If finalized, the proposed deal would mark one of the most significant diplomatic breakthroughs between Washington and Tehran in years, potentially easing tensions in the Gulf region, restoring confidence in international energy markets, and opening the door to broader negotiations on long-standing disputes between the two countries.

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US President Donald Trump said that a deal with Iran to end the war in the Middle East could be signed on Sunday, and that the strategic Strait of Hormuz would be “open to all” immediately after.

Iran had offered a different timeline earlier in the day, but nonetheless signalled an agreement was in the offing, as both the warring parties and their mediators expressed increasing optimism that weeks of halting negotiations were drawing to a close.

The leader of key mediator Pakistan said a deal was closer “than ever before”.

The “finalisation” of this agreement is expected “within the next 24 hours”, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday on X, adding that it will be signed electronically, without going into further detail or specifying what this would involve.

He said “technical level talks” are expected to follow next week.

The momentum came in spite of fresh skirmishes in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded since early in the war, throwing global markets into turmoil.

“The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL,” a post on Trump’s official Truth Social platform read on Saturday.

Since an April 8 truce paused the worst of the fighting, Trump has repeatedly insisted a deal was imminent, only for the wrangling to drag on.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei had said earlier on Saturday that the date of the signing was yet to be determined, but “it will not be tomorrow”.

However, he added: “The possibility of this happening in the coming days cannot be ruled out.”

The warring parties have nonetheless released conflicting information about the contents of the deal, as each seeks to show it emerged from the war with the upper hand.

Tehran has insisted it will maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime trade route for oil and gas shipments from the Gulf.

Since imposing its blockade, Iran has demanded that vessels obtain permission from its armed forces before transiting the waterway, and has established a new body to oversee it and collect tolls.

The US has responded with its own blockade of Iranian ports.

The US military’s Central Command said earlier Saturday Iran had “launched multiple one-way attack drones in an attempt to strike commercial ships transiting the Strait”.

It added that “US forces have downed all of them in recent hours”.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in an interview with state television on Friday, had said the deal on the table called for the lifting of the US naval blockade.

“The administration of Strait of Hormuz will no longer be the same as before,” he added, calling the waterway one of Iran’s “main instruments of deterrence”.

The US has repeatedly said Iran remaining in control of the strait would be unacceptable, and Trump’s post made no mention of tolls or other arrangements.

– ‘Nuclear dust’ –

Another key sticking point in the talks has been the fate of Iran’s nuclear programme, particularly its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — believed to have been buried by US strikes last year during a previous short-lived war.

Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful and that it has a right to enrichment, but the United States, Israel and other Western governments suspect it of seeking a bomb.

Araghchi on Friday said the only way to deal with Iran’s enriched uranium “is to dilute it inside Iran”.

Trump, who has justified the war as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, previously said the US would remove and destroy the uranium.

In Saturday’s post, he said: “When all is calm, we will go in and get the Nuclear Dust… and downblend and destroy it, whether in Iran, or the United States.”

“Hopefully, this process will all work out quickly, easily, and smoothly,” he added. “If it doesn’t, we have the ultimate alternative, hopefully never to be used again!”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel — which launched the war in tandem with the US in February — said Trump had promised him any agreement would include the removal of the enriched nuclear material.

In the streets of Tehran, there was scepticism that the latest agreement would cross the finish line.

“I don’t think there is any deal soon,” said Saeed Sadeghi, 49. “I don’t trust their word.”

Fars news agency shared a video from Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad showing dozens protesting the deal outside a foreign ministry building on Saturday.

It showed women in black chadors chanting “death to dishonourable Araghchi, the infiltrator”, while waving red and black flags.