World
Pakistan claims US-Iran deal to be signed within 24 hours; Tehran pushes back
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday that the United States and Iran have agreed to a framework for a peace deal that would end the months-long conflict in the Middle East, with a final text of the deal reached.
Pakistan is now preparing for an electronic signing expected within the next 24 hours, followed by technical-level talks next week, Sharif added.
Some two hours later, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei denied that the signing would take place on Sunday, according to Iranian state media.
He added that the possibility of signing the Islamabad memorandum in the coming days could not be ruled out, but caution was needed regarding any comment on the signing date due to the “hesitation of the other side,” referring to the US.
Sharif’s announcement came two days after US President Donald Trump called off a third night of strikes on Iran, claiming an agreement to end the war had been reached and would be signed shortly.
The US had struck Iran for two consecutive days prior, in what it called “self-defense strikes” targeting “military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites across Iran.”
In his statement calling off Thursday night’s strikes, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, “Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as president of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.”
“Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and others,” he said.
But he added that the US blockade on Iran-linked shipping would “remain in full force and effect until this transaction is finalized” — indicating the deal had not been finalized.
“Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly,” Trump continued.
Following Trump’s comments, a senior Israeli official told Channel 12 news that Israel was not aware of a finalized deal.
Trump lashed out at Iran on Friday as the Islamic Republic and his administration leaked conflicting details to media outlets about their emerging diplomatic agreement, warning the “dishonorable” Iranians “better get their act together” after declaring the deal could be signed as soon as the weekend.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said reports by Iranian state media were “Fake News,” stating they “have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,” without further specifying.
The US president’s post came after the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Tehran will not give up its right to enrich uranium under any deal, while reiterating Iran has not yet made a final decision about the draft agreement. IRNA said Tehran would “negotiate only the nuclear program solely within the framework of the Islamic Republic’s fundamental principles.”
A US official said Friday that the emerging memorandum of understanding with Iran “leads to” Washington getting Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Iran has repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons, but has enriched and stockpiled uranium to near weapons-grade levels while openly seeking to destroy Israel.
The highly enriched uranium is believed to be buried under rubble at sites bombed by the US during the 12-day war in June 2025.
Israel and the US launched their campaign against Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its nuclear and ballistic missile capacities. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes across the region, and its terror proxies in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon have also carried out attacks.
Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies are shipped, while charging tolls for vessels that wanted passage and attacking others that tried to pass.
The US, in response, blockaded Iranian ships and ports to prevent Tehran from shipping any oil itself. The halt in movement through the strait has rattled global economies.
Meanwhile, Iranian state media reported Saturday that the funeral for Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei will begin in Tehran on July 4 and conclude with his burial in the northeastern city of Mashhad on July 9.
Khamenei was killed in the opening Israeli and US strikes on Iran in February. His death marked the end of more than three decades at the helm of the Islamic Republic.
In March, he was succeeded by his son Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured in the same strikes that killed his father and has not been publicly seen or heard since then.
