Pakistan’s prime minister said the terms of a U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding could be finalized within 24 hours and signed soon after.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday that the United States and Iran are on the verge of an agreement on a framework for a peace deal to settle the ongoing war diplomatically and are expected to sign the initial memorandum of understanding as soon as within the next 24 hours.
Sharif, whose country has been mediating in efforts to bring the conflict to a diplomatic resolution, said Pakistan was preparing for an electronic signing of the framework memorandum, which would be followed by technical talks that would flesh out the contours of a broader agreement that would settle the war.
“We are closer to a peace deal than ever before,” Sharif said in a June 13 post on X. “With finalisation likely expected in the next 24 hours, Pakistan is preparing for the electronic signing of the peace deal immediately after, followed by technical level talks next week.”
The Pakistani leader thanked the United States and Iran for what he said was their ongoing commitment to reach a negotiated settlement to the conflict.
“We are confident that this historic peace deal will form a strong foundation for lasting peace,” he wrote.
The United States and Iran both signaled in recent days that an agreement to end their war was close.
U.S. President Donald Trump said this week that a deal could be signed within days and announced that he had canceled planned military strikes against Iran after the terms of the framework memorandum had been discussed and approved at the highest levels of Iranian leadership.
A senior Trump administration official told reporters on Friday that both sides had agreed on a text and that an initial deal could be signed in the coming days.
Iranian officials, too, have signaled an agreement could be imminent, while also expressing some caution.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took to social media on Friday to say that a deal “has never been closer.”
Araghchi was also cited by Iranian state-run media IRNA as saying on Friday that the memorandum of understanding would be signed digitally by both the United States and Iran, and that this “could happen within the next day or two, or it may happen within the coming days.”
On Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei was cited by state-affiliated Tasnim news agency as saying that, while the exact timing of the signing of the memorandum has not been decided, it will not be on Sunday.
“As for the exact timing of the signing of the memorandum, we must wait and see,” Baghaei said. “Although it will not be tomorrow, the possibility that it could take place in the coming days cannot be ruled out.”
By Tom Ozimek
