Donald Trump has claimed that a peace deal with Iran has been "largely negotiated", potentially paving the way for an end to the war launched by the US and Israel in February. Writing on his social media platform, the US president said "final aspects and details" of a memorandum of understanding were still being discussed but that the Strait of Hormuz would be opened as part of the agreement.
However, Iran's Fars news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that the strait would remain under Iranian control, describing Trump's assertion that an agreement was nearly final as "inconsistent with reality". The agency said the management of the strait, including determining routes and issuing permits, would remain the monopoly of Iran.
Pakistan's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, congratulated Trump on his peace efforts and said Pakistan hoped to host another round of talks "very soon". Sharif described the president's calls with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, Jordan and Pakistan as "very useful and productive". Pakistan's army chief, Syed Asim Munir, has been a key figure in negotiations, holding recent meetings with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
According to reports, a revised proposal submitted by Iran and Pakistan to the US includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz with no tolls during a 60-day ceasefire extension, allowing Iran to freely sell oil, and negotiations on curbing its nuclear program. In exchange, the US would lift its blockade on Iranian ports. The Associated Press cited a regional source as saying the potential deal would include an official declaration of the war's end and two-month talks on Iran's nuclear program.
Three senior Iranian officials told the New York Times that the agreement would stop fighting in Iran and Lebanon and could release $25bn in Iranian assets frozen overseas, with a nuclear agreement to be negotiated within 30 to 60 days. US secretary of state Marco Rubio said during a visit to India that "news" might arrive "later today", even as Trump continued to threaten strikes.
