US and Iran said to be hours from peace deal, Rubio says

The United States and Iran were hours from striking a peace agreement to end the Middle East war Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a visit to India, The Korea Times reported.

The framework for a deal was already largely in place, The Korea Times said, and would reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway that carries roughly one-fifth of global oil exports — while temporarily lifting U.S. sanctions on Iranian energy. Nuclear enrichment talks would be deferred 60 days, a provision that could ease pressure on global energy markets, including oil prices felt by Southern California consumers.

"I do think perhaps there is the possibility that in the next few hours the world will get some good news," Rubio told reporters Sunday in New Delhi, according to The Korea Times. He said the agreement would set in motion a "process that can ultimately leave us where the president wants us to be, and that is a world that no longer has to fear or worry about an Iranian nuclear weapon." President Donald Trump confirmed the momentum in a social media post, writing that an agreement "has been largely negotiated, subject to finalisation between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries," The Korea Times reported.

Under the proposed terms, Iran would restore Strait of Hormuz traffic to pre-war levels. The U.S. would release a portion of Tehran's frozen foreign funds and end its naval blockade. Washington would also temporarily lift sanctions on Iranian oil, gas and petrochemical exports, with nuclear enrichment negotiations set aside for 60 days pending further talks, The Korea Times said.

Pakistan brokered the initial face-to-face negotiations between U.S. and Iranian delegations in April, playing a central diplomatic role in advancing the deal. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed "progress towards an agreement," according to The Korea Times.

Not all signals from Tehran were welcoming. Iran's hardline Javan newspaper wrote that the two sides were "just one step away from ending hostilities, and one step away from war," depicting the moment as poised equally between peace and renewed conflict, The Korea Times reported. That warning echoed remarks by Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who had earlier said that Iranian armed forces "have rebuilt themselves during the ceasefire period in such a way that if Trump commits another act of folly and restarts the war, it will certainly be more crushing and bitter for the United States than on the first day of the war."

A U.S.-Iran ceasefire has been in place since April 8, about six weeks after the war began Feb. 28. Despite a separate Lebanon ceasefire established April 17, Israel conducted strikes on the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon on Saturday, underscoring the region's continued volatility ahead of any final accord.

The war began Feb. 28, with U.S. and Israeli forces conducting joint strikes on Iran before a ceasefire took effect April 8. Any finalized peace agreement would mark a decisive diplomatic turn, with the Strait of Hormuz reopening representing the most immediate relief for global energy markets strained by months of conflict.