The United States and Iran have reached a final agreed text for a bilateral peace memorandum to end their months-long conflict, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed on Friday, according to reports from Reuters and BBC News. The intensive mediation efforts led by Pakistan appear poised to halt the destructive hostilities that have destabilized the region for over three months. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi also confirmed the diplomatic breakthrough during an interview with state television, noting that a formal signing of the framework agreement is closer than ever before. The core tenets of the tentative agreement involve the immediate reopening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz to international shipping and the complete lifting of the United States naval blockade on Iranian commercial ports.
The devastating war originally erupted on February 28 following a series of coordinated military strikes by the United States and Israel against targets across Iran. In response, Tehran launched retaliatory missile and drone salvos against Israel and Washington-allied states throughout the Persian Gulf, effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz. The closure of this vital maritime choke point, which handles nearly one-fifth of the global oil and liquefied natural gas supply, triggered severe economic shocks across international markets. Although both nations agreed to a fragile ceasefire in April, localized hostilities have persisted, with both sides exchanging intermittent drone and missile strikes as recently as this week. United States President Donald Trump stated on Thursday that he had cancelled several scheduled military strikes against Iranian targets because negotiators had successfully forged a major settlement.
Despite the declared progress, significant discrepancies and friction points have emerged between the official narratives released by Washington and Tehran. Following the publication of an alleged fourteen-point draft deal by Iranian state media on Friday, President Trump quickly dismissed the report on social media, asserting it bore no relation to the written terms. Concurrently, United States Central Command reported that its naval forces had intercepted multiple one-way attack drones launched by Iran toward commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday night. Araghchi acknowledged in his broadcast that members of Iran`s Supreme National Security Council remain divided over specific stipulations, and a final collective approval has not yet been achieved. What remains unclear is how this bilateral framework will influence broader proxy conflicts across the Middle East, particularly on the active front in Lebanon. The Iranian foreign minister maintained that the agreement implicitly covers regional escalations and would necessitate an Israeli withdrawal from newly occupied border zones.
Regarding economic concessions and denuclearization timelines, United States officials have maintained a strict, performance-based stance. The White House and Vice President J.D. Vance emphasized that no frozen Iranian assets or financial relief would be granted upfront simply for signing the memorandum. Instead, economic benefits will flow to Tehran progressively only as it honors its specific obligations under a verified inspection regime. The immediate restoration of shipping lanes will initiate a strict sixty-day negotiation window dedicated entirely to dismantling Iran`s highly enriched uranium stockpiles. While American officials insist that all weapons-grade material must be completely destroyed on-site or permanently removed from the country, Tehran continues to argue that it will only accept diluting the material within its own sovereign territory. As Iran continues to deny western accusations of seeking nuclear weaponry, the long-term success of this peace initiative rests heavily on the upcoming technical verifications.
