Iran deal signed, but Strait of Hormuz traffic stays grounded

The U.S.-Iran deal was signed electronically Sunday by President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, senior administration officials told reporters Monday. A 60-day ceasefire extension is in effect, including in Lebanon, and the Strait of Hormuz is now part of the framework. Trump said Monday that ships carrying oil are moving out of the strait.

Mitsui OSK Lines, the world's largest tanker operator, issued a sharper assessment. The company's boss cautioned that fleet owners need to build confidence after the deal and that flow through the strait will take weeks to resume. The gap between the White House's timeline and the industry's timeline is the first pressure point.

The deal is testing whether Washington and Tehran can turn a battlefield pause into a broader settlement, Axios reports. The strait comes first. After that, the nuclear program. Axios counted eight unresolved questions in the framework. Reuters says how the deal will work remains unclear.

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to its lowest level since 1983, according to Reuters. That number was published the same day the White House announced tankers were moving. The reserve is not a market signal; it is a policy buffer. Right now the buffer is thin and the policy is untested.