Beirut, Lebanon. Three Saudi-flagged supertankers carrying 6 million barrels of crude sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum to end the war that had disrupted global energy supplies. Israeli forces also launched fresh airstrikes in Lebanon on Thursday morning, despite the agreement’s call for a permanent end to the war there.
Memorandum takes effect ahead of schedule
Trump signed the memorandum of understanding on Wednesday, as did Pezeshkian, bringing it into effect two days earlier than previously expected. The agreement calls for the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of a U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports.
Shipping and oil market reaction
Shippers said it would still take time for transit across the strait to return to pre-war levels, with safe access still needing to be ensured and mines cleared. There were, however, immediate signs of change, with ships that might previously have concealed their positions by switching off transponders now broadcasting their locations as they prepared to pass through the waterway.
Benchmark Brent crude futures fell another 2% to below $78 a barrel, their lowest level since the fighting began.
Lebanon fighting continues
In Lebanon, where more than a million people have been displaced by the fighting, Israeli forces carried out new airstrikes on Thursday morning. The strikes raised questions about how far Trump would go to press allies involved in the war to halt an offensive he has pledged to end.
Negotiations and Lebanon clause
The U.S.-Iranian memorandum begins a 60-day negotiation period aimed at reaching a final settlement to the war, which Trump launched in February alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel was not part of the negotiations, despite launching an invasion in March and seizing a large area of southern Lebanon in its pursuit of Hezbollah militants who had opened fire across the border in support of Iran.
Iran has long said that any peace deal must also include Lebanon. The memorandum signed by Trump explicitly calls for the permanent termination of the war in Lebanon and for the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty to be ensured.
