The United States and Iran have signed a peace deal that extends their ceasefire by 60 days – or more, if needed to reach a final diplomatic resolution of their conflict. Immediate actions include Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz to energy cargoes and the US lifting its naval blockade. The agreement, signed by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, has been welcomed globally, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said there must be no turning back on the path of negotiation.

Thousands have been killed, including in Lebanon where US ally Israel has been fighting Iran proxy Hezbollah. Hopefully, the guns will remain silent on all sides and allow negotiations to proceed. That is important, because thorny issues remain for negotiators to tackle, including the fate of Iran’s nuclear programme.

According to an outline of the agreement released by the US, Iran affirms it will not procure or develop nuclear weapons. Both sides have decided to resolve the disposition of enriched material stockpiles with a mechanism to be agreed upon and to discuss Iran’s nuclear needs and enrichment. The outline also states that Iran will keep its current nuclear posture and the US will not impose new sanctions.

The deal has many critics among hardliners on both sides, with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen as not having achieved all their war aims. Iran has emerged devastated by bombing but with its regime intact, and Tehran is resuming pre-war talks on its nuclear programme.

The peace agenda confronting negotiators over the next 60 days is challenging. The two sides, under mediation by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, have wisely allowed for extensions of the 60-day deadline by agreement. The outline says the US will terminate all sanctions against Iran, including UN Security Council resolutions and unilateral US ones, on an agreed schedule within the final deal. Washington has also agreed to unfreeze all Iranian funds and assets. Iran, meanwhile, will use “its best efforts” to ensure safe, fee-free passage for commercial vessels between the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman for 60 days.

Both sides have reasons to keep the peace process on track. Iran needs to address a deepening economic crisis, including soaring inflation and the risk of social unrest. For the US, the 60-day deadline, plus any extension, does not leave much time ahead of the November midterm elections, amid the war’s growing domestic unpopularity.