U.S. and Iran reach temporary deal — but Trump hasn't signed off yet

The U.S. and Iran have "mostly agreed" to the terms of a 60-day memorandum of understanding that would extend an ongoing ceasefire and kick off nuclear negotiations — but President Donald Trump is still mulling it over.

While U.S. officials said Iranian officials have given the necessary approvals to sign the temporary agreement, Tehran itself has yet to confirm that its senior leadership has signed off, Axios first reported. A White House official later confirmed that report to CNBC.

The apparent leap in diplomatic progress between the U.S. and Iran — and corresponding optimism from markets — came in contrast to a slew of signs that tensions in the region are mounting.

The Pentagon said Thursday morning that Iran had launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait and deployed attack drones in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday said it sanctioned Iran's "Persian Gulf Strait Authority," the agency Tehran launched earlier this month as it works to exert control of transit through the strait.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later warned Oman — which has reportedly been in talks with Iran about charging vessels transiting the key oil-shipping route — not to allow a tolling system in the waterway.

"Oman, in particular, should know that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved — directly or indirectly — in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized," Bessent wrote in an X post Thursday morning.

The post came one day after Trump, while insisting at a Cabinet meeting that the strait must remain unobstructed, said "Oman will behave just like everybody else or we'll have to blow 'em up."

Major stock indices nevertheless rose Thursday, following the reported progress toward a temporary deal that could lead to the end of the three-month-old war.

The sanctions announced Wednesday are part of "Operation Economic Fury," the Trump administration's effort to squeeze Tehran's finances that U.S. officials say has supplanted its military campaign dubbed "Operation Epic Fury."

"Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) is a joke, and today Treasury has sanctioned it," Bessent said on X Thursday morning prior to his post calling out Oman. "We have warned any corporate or state entities against paying tolls or hiding them as aid payments."

Meanwhile, Iran and the U.S. continue to use force in the strait, further eroding their shaky ceasefire that is nominally still in effect.

Iran on Wednesday night "launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait that was successfully intercepted by Kuwaiti forces," U.S. Central Command said Thursday morning, calling the action an "egregious ceasefire violation."

The attack took place "hours after Iranian forces launched five one-way attack drones that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz," CENTCOM said in an X post. "All drones were successfully intercepted by U.S. forces which also prevented a sixth drone launch from an Iranian ground control site in Bandar Abbas."

The latest military and economic actions followed Trump's insistence Wednesday that he feels no pressure to make a deal with Iran before the midterm elections more than five months away.

"They're getting clobbered. Their economy is in free fall," Trump said of Iran during a Cabinet meeting.

"They thought they were going to outwait me, you know. 'We'll outwait him, he's got the midterms.' I don't care about the midterms," Trump said.

This is developing news. Please check back for updates.