Overview
- Both sides said the pact could be signed within days, and Pakistan’s prime minister said a “final, agreed” text was reached on Friday.
- Leaked drafts portray immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and phased sanctions relief or asset releases tied to verified Iranian performance, but Washington and Tehran publicly dispute how those steps would be implemented.
- U.S. officials say the MoU would set a 30–60/60 day staged process that pauses hostilities and leads into a 60‑day round of technical talks on Iran’s nuclear programme with an aim to remove enriched uranium if Iran complies.
- Kinetic incidents continued during talks as U.S. forces shot down Iranian one‑way attack drones near the strait, and Israel has rejected being bound by any memorandum because it was excluded from negotiations.
- Markets reacted to the prospect of a deal with global shares rising and oil prices falling and the agreement would have big effects on regional shipping, frozen Iranian assets, and the course of longer nuclear negotiations.