The agreement struck between the United States and Iran aims to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, ease sanctions on the Islamic Republic and relaunch nuclear talks with a 60-day deadline.
But the brief document signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is vague on some of the major questions left by the three-month regional conflict that jolted the world economy. The U.S. says some outstanding issues will
be worked out over the 60 days.
Here are some of the main questions, and the best answers available at the moment.
Trump says a key objective of the war was to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, something Tehran has long denied seeking. The U.S.-Israeli surprise attack that started the war on Feb. 28 came as Iran was engaged in nuclear talks, which are now set to resume.
It will be extremely difficult to reach a full nuclear agreement before the 60-day deadline, which could be extended. The 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump scrapped during his first term, took more than 18 months to negotiate and involved complex technical discussions among nuclear experts.
Iran has long insisted on its right to enrich uranium. The deal does not specify the level at which it would be allowed to enrich — the low levels required for power plants or the much higher level at which it had enriched before the war, which put the uranium a short, technical step away from weapons-grade.
Iran’s existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium is believed to have been largely buried by U.S. strikes last year. The agreement says at a minimum the stockpile will be diluted on site under U.N. supervision, without elaborating. Trump has long demanded that it be removed from the country.
Iran's effective closure of the critical waterway — through which a fifth of the world's oil and gas passed before the war — caused a historic worldwide fuel shock, driving up the prices of everything from gas and groceries to fertilizer and airline tickets.
Lloyd's List Intelligence, a maritime data company, said Thursday that major shippers have begun moving vessels through the strait again.
Under the agreement, it will be fully reopened, with Iran to remove mines within 30 days and with no charges imposed on commercial vessels during the 60-day period.
Passage was free before the war, but Iran imposed tolls during the fighting and has said it will continue to charge fees.
Legal experts say that would violate international laws around freedom of navigation, and the U.S. has adamantly rejected it. Such fees could also run afoul of sanctions on Iran, making them problematic for shippers.
Even if the strait is fully reopened, it could take weeks or months for the normal flow of oil and gas to resume.
Ship captains and insurers will have to decide if it's truly safe. Hundreds of ships bottled up in the Persian Gulf for months will need to exit through the narrow, elbow-shaped waterway. Even a brief exchange of fire — which happened several times after a declared ceasefire in April — could halt traffic once again.
Major oil and gas producers in the Gulf, including Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, will also need time to repair critical infrastructure damaged by Iranian missile and drone attacks.
The U.S. says it has lifted its blockade under the agreement, which also calls for sanctions waivers that will allow Iran to export oil. That will provide a boost to Iran's wrecked economy and likely push world fuel prices down. The U.S. also commits to unfreezing Iranian funds held abroad.
A raft of international sanctions imposed over the years related to Iran's nuclear program, its support for militant groups and human rights violations are also to be lifted, but only as part of a final nuclear deal. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said sanctions relief would be “performance-based.”
The deal calls for the United States and its regional allies to develop a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran, but does not say who would pay for it.
Trump has said the U.S. won't contribute, and Vance has said it would be up to wealthy Gulf countries to fund it. But they are unlikely to want to help Iran at a time when their own economies are suffering from the war's fallout and the destruction of their infrastructure in Iranian attacks.
The deal calls for an immediate halt to military operations “on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” where Israel has been battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, and for ensuring Lebanon's “territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
It does not say whether that means Israel would withdraw from the large swaths of southern Lebanon it has occupied since Hezbollah joined the war in its early days by firing rockets and drones at northern Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, has refused to withdraw, saying Israeli forces will remain in Lebanon until the threat from Hezbollah has been eliminated.
Hezbollah has refused to halt its own attacks while Israel is occupying Lebanese territory, and Iran has insisted Lebanon be included in any ceasefire.
Continued fighting there could unravel the deal if Iran or the U.S. believe the other is in breach of it.
The deal says nothing about either, and Trump suggested this week that Iran is entitled to have some ballistic missiles in proportion to its neighbors.
Iran still has missiles capable of hitting Israel and has long backed militant groups like Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthi rebels in Yemen and militias in Iraq, which have also attacked it. Eliminating Iran's missiles and degrading its network of militant allies were among the main U.S. war goals.
Sanctions relief would potentially allow Iran to continue funding such groups, though it will have to balance that against its own economic crisis and reconstruction needs.
