A US-Iran deal could be sealed within days.
along with a memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to President Donald Trump, Iranian officials and key mediator Pakistan.
“There could be a memorandum of understanding within the next 1 or 2 days or within the next few days,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with Iranian state media on Friday. Which he posted on X. “I hope so.”
Trump reposted Araghchi’s post on Truth Social. He also told Axios that he believed an agreement with Iran could be signed over the weekend or on Monday while condemning what he said were fake information points provided by Tehran over its content.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said early Saturday that the peace deal was “closer than ever” and was “expected to be finalised within the next 24 hours”.
“Pakistan is preparing to sign the peace agreement electronically immediately, followed by technical-level talks next week,” he posted on Twitter.
For weeks it has appeared that the US and Iran are nearing an agreement that would end the war that began in late February, when the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Iran has since imposed strict controls on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil passed before the war, causing chaos in global markets.
A ceasefire was agreed in mid-April, but there has been intermittent firing between the two sides since then, with attacks increasing this week as diplomacy progressed.
Oil prices fell below $90 a barrel on Friday morning after Trump said a peace deal was within reach. U.S. crude oil futures for July delivery were at $84 a barrel early Saturday, while August futures for the international benchmark Brent fell to about $87 a barrel.
The memorandum of understanding would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz without tolls and restore pre-war shipping within about 30 days, according to a regional source familiar with the agreement and a diplomat with knowledge of the text, as well as lift the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports.
The agreement would include a 60-day extension of the current ceasefire, which effectively collapsed this week with both sides resuming attacks. The agreement includes an end to fighting in Lebanon, where Israel has continued deadly attacks against Hezbollah despite existing ceasefire agreements.
But speaking on Iranian state television on Friday, Araghchi offered a different take on the terms.
He said Iran intends to charge service fees for ships passing through the strait, while “it is not possible to impose a toll on passage through the Strait of Hormuz” but will retain control of the waterway and charge for “services provided”.
He also said that Iran’s “sword will remain on the Strait of Hormuz indefinitely”.
Another part of the agreement is that the US and Iran will respect each other’s sovereignty and not interfere in each other’s affairs, Araghchi said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Araghchi said that the next phase of talks will finalise the details of two key issues: Iran’s nuclear programme and the lifting of sanctions.
Trump officials had consistently cited the destruction of Iran’s nuclear programme as the main objective of the conflict. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned on Friday that the terms described by Iranian media would be “terrible” and that Trump’s “red line” on nuclear enrichment should be maintained. He welcomed the assurances from Trump, who opposed parts of the deal that Iran claimed.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said that the US-Iran agreement will provide economic relief to the country.
“We believe they have to take this opportunity to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” he told host Laura Ingraham on Fox News. “We’ll see, maybe this weekend or Monday, we’ll get to the other side of the deal.”
The secretary said the agreement will lower energy prices for Americans. “I am confident that the challenging times with gasoline will pass,” Besant said.
Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said Trump has agreed to release $24 billion of Iran’s seized assets. The Young Journalists Club, which is affiliated with Iranian state TV, reported the news.
According to the YJC, Rezaei, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said, “Trump has agreed to release $24 billion of Iran’s frozen assets but is unwilling to announce it publicly.”
In a phone call with Axios, Trump told the outlet that he had demanded an explanation from Iran for reports that claimed the country would receive billions of dollars in frozen assets after signing the deal and added that officials had privately “apologised for giving false information”.
As talks continue, tensions remain high around the Strait of Hormuz, where US Central Command said Iran launched multiple drones at commercial ships on Friday.
“All of them have been killed by US forces in recent hours as the flow of traffic through the strait continues unhindered,” a post on X said.
