TEHRAN, Iran (AFP)—United States (US) President Donald Trump said Saturday that a deal with Iran to end the war in the Middle East would be signed on Sunday, and that the strategic Strait of Hormuz would be “open to all” immediately after.

Iran had offered a different timeline earlier in the day, but nonetheless signalled an agreement was in the offing, as both the warring parties and their mediators expressed increasing optimism that weeks of halting negotiations were drawing to a close.

The new momentum came in spite of fresh skirmishes in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded since early in the war, throwing global markets into turmoil.