A draft memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, disclosed by a senior Iranian official to Reuters, sets out an immediate reciprocal easing of the maritime confrontation that has choked global energy shipments for months. Under its terms, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all commercial traffic without delay, while the United States would begin lifting its naval blockade on Iranian ports, completing the process within 30 days. The document, described as a final draft framework, marks the most concrete step towards de-escalation since hostilities erupted in February, when US and Israeli strikes prompted Tehran to mine the vital waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes.

The draft memorandum is the product of intensive back-channel talks and covers a broad sweep of issues beyond the immediate maritime standoff. It stipulates that Washington will not impose any new sanctions on Iran until a definitive agreement is reached, and will waive oil sanctions for a specified period, offering Tehran a much-needed fiscal reprieve. On the nuclear front, Iran commits not to produce or acquire nuclear weapons and agrees to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium inside the country, with the technical mechanism for doing so to be hammered out over the next 60 days. That same two-month window is designated for negotiating the final, comprehensive deal, effectively transforming the memorandum into a structured ceasefire with a built-in deadline.

Viewed from Tehran, the draft represents a significant diplomatic prize: it unlocks access to billions of dollars in frozen assets held abroad — one report citing a figure of $25 billion — and provides a pathway to broader sanctions relief without requiring Iran to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure entirely. From Washington’s perspective, the arrangement offers a temporary stabilisation of energy markets and a pause in a military campaign that had begun to strain alliances in the Gulf and beyond. Analysts in London and European capitals note that the deal’s architecture borrows from the interim nuclear accords of the past, but with the added urgency of an active conflict and a naval dimension absent from earlier negotiations.

Yet the draft is a framework, not a final peace. The 60-day negotiation window will test whether the political will exists in both capitals to translate interim de-escalation into a durable settlement. Hardliners in Tehran may resist any perceived capitulation on the nuclear file, while critics in Washington will scrutinise any sanctions relief as a reward for Iranian brinkmanship. Gulf states, whose tanker traffic was held hostage by the Hormuz closure, are likely to welcome the immediate reopening but will watch the talks warily, mindful that a collapse could reignite a conflict that has already redrawn regional security calculations. For now, the memorandum offers a fragile but tangible off-ramp from a war that neither side appears able to sustain.