US, Iran sign peace deal to end war

• President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian signed an interim deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran on June 18. 

• Trump signed just before a grand dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles, the site of the signing of the eponymous treaty that formally ended World War One.

• In Tehran, President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the document.

• The 14-point agreement extends a ceasefire announced in April by another 60 days, including in Lebanon, to allow the two sides to negotiate a final truce. 

• The agreement includes an immediate end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, the full resumption of maritime traffic with no charge in the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of a US blockade of Iranian ports, the waiving of US sanctions on Iran, the unfreezing of its assets, and a $300 billion investment fund for Iran’s post-war reconstruction. 

• Meanwhile, Trump threatened to resume attacks if Iran failed to honour their commitments.

• The US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, assassinating the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and military leaders on the first day. 

• It quickly spiralled into a regional conflict that has killed more than 7,000 people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon and effectively shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for the world economy.