The United States and Iran have signalled an agreement to end their war was close, with a senior US official saying both sides had agreed on a text and ‌that Washington expects to sign an initial deal in the coming days.Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said that while changes in the deal were still possible, the tentative agreement showed his country had emerged stronger from the conflict.“Iran is the winner of the war with the US,” ​he said on state television.Hours after those remarks, US forces shot down multiple Iranian one-way attack drones heading toward the Strait of Hormuz, a source familiar said. They said the drones had posed a threat to commercial traffic. US Central Command later confirmed the action and said the waterway was open for transit.Iranian news agencies had reported that explosions were heard along the strait in Iran’s Sirik port and Qeshm island, which residents and local officials attributed to shots fired by Iranian forces to warn ​vessels attempting to cross the waterway without permission from the Iran Revolutionary Guards’ navy.The proposed memorandum of understanding calls for reopening the strait and lifting the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, sources on all sides of the talks said. Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme – US president Donald Trump’s stated ⁠rationale for starting the war – would take place afterward.The US official told reporters that the deal met Trump’s core objectives and put negotiations “in a very, very good place.”Accounts of ‌the ‌draft ​proposal from western, Pakistani and Iranian sources pointed to terms that could favour Iran, drawing criticism from Trump, who dismissed the reports as inaccurate.While there were minor differences in the details, the proposals broadly offered Tehran much of what it has sought, with Trump appearing to secure little beyond the reopening of the strait, which Iran closed after ⁠the US and Israel strikes in February.Araqchi said Iran would, along with Oman, retain control of traffic ​through the strait, which before the war handled one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply. “Our sword will ​always hang over the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.A western source said the deal could be signed as soon as Sunday by US vice president JD Vance and Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, with Geneva seen as the likeliest venue.Israel has not been part of the negotiations and prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said ‌his country would not be party to the agreement.Netanyahu ⁠has clashed with Trump in recent weeks over US demands that Israel curb military action in Lebanon to allow Washington to reach a deal with Tehran.Araqchi said the agreement would end the war in Lebanon, implying an Israeli withdrawal from occupied areas.Israel’s defence minister said it would not withdraw. A senior Israeli official said Israel expects to retain its freedom to act against threats.Progress ‌towards an agreement has emerged at the end of a week that brought a sharp escalation in hostilities in the Gulf, including Israeli-Iranian exchanges of fire and US strikes on Iranian targets, followed by retaliation against US bases.Global stock markets rose and oil prices fell on ​the news. Brent crude prices were down more than 3 per cent at their lowest in nearly two months.(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026