The U.S. and Iran have reportedly reached a deal to extend an ongoing ceasefire and launch further negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, pending President Donald Trump’s final approval.

U.S. stock futures were muted on Friday, after edging higher following the news in the prior session. Meanwhile, Brent crude prices, the global oil benchmark, hovered around $93.75 a barrel, down from peaks above $100 a barrel yet still well above pre-war levels.  

Axios first reported Washington and Tehran had reached an agreement over a 60-day memorandum of understanding (MoU), but it still needed Trump’s nod, citing two U.S. officials. Other news outlets provided similar reports. 

Trump had been briefed on the details of the final deal and the president had asked for a couple of days to think about it, one of the U.S. officials said, according to Axios. The MoU will include "unrestricted" shipping through the critical Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of an ongoing U.S. naval blockade of Iran’s ports and coastline. The MoU will also include a commitment by Iran to not pursue a nuclear weapon.

Iranian media had reported on Wednesday that an unofficial draft of the peace deal would see Tehran restoring commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month, and that Iran and Oman would jointly manage traffic through the channel.

But Trump later largely dismissed the report, stating that no single country could control the vital waterway. "Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up," the president had said. 

Any agreement between the U.S. and Iran would represent the biggest breakthrough in a conflict that has dragged on since the end of February, when Washington and Israel launched a joint assault on Iran. All sides have been locked in a protracted ceasefire since the beginning of April as negotiations have continued.

Earlier, oil prices had been boosted and hopes for a peace deal had taken a dent after a fresh exchange of fire in the Gulf. U.S. Central Command said Iran late on Wednesday launched a ballistic missile towards Kuwait that was successfully intercepted by Kuwaiti forces. CENTCOM said the "egregious ceasefire violation" occurred hours after Iranian forces launched five attack drones in and near the Strait of Hormuz.

"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," CENTCOM said.

Iran’s state media said the country’s armed forces had fired warning shots at four ships that had attempted to cross the strait without navy supervision, forcing them to turn back. State media also showed footage from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps retaliating against the Bandar Abbas attacks.

The attacks marked a potential resumption in open hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, especially after Tehran warned of retaliation following U.S. strikes earlier this week. The U.S. military claimed that the attacks were in "self defense," and that a ceasefire with Iran remained. 

Separately, Israeli hostilities against Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon also continued, keeping tensions in the Middle East elevated.