The latest signs of movement followed a flurry of regional diplomacy involving Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, as several Middle Eastern leaders urged Washington to accept a deal and prevent a renewed escalation.<\/p>\n
Trump said in a Truth Social post that an agreement involving the United States, Iran and several regional countries had been \u201clargely negotiated\u201d and was awaiting finalization.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinal aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,\u201d Trump said, adding that \u201cthe Strait of Hormuz will be opened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump said the statement followed what he called a \u201cvery good call\u201d with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain concerning Iran and \u201ca Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said he had spoken separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing that call as having gone \u201cvery well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump’s remarks came after Iran submitted a revised proposal to the United States through Pakistani mediators to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with a US response expected by Sunday, Reuters reported citing two Pakistani sources familiar with the negotiations.<\/p>\n
Several Middle Eastern leaders involved in Trump\u2019s call urged him to accept a deal with Iran, Axios reported citing a source briefed on the call. A regional source said the message from Arab and Muslim leaders was: \u201cPlease stop the war for the benefit of the whole region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reuters separately reported citing a Pakistani security official briefed on Pakistani army chief Asim Munir\u2019s visit to Tehran that an MoU was being \u201cfine-tuned\u201d to end the US-Iran war.<\/p>\n
The official said Munir\u2019s visit had made \u201csignificant progress\u201d on points discussed in the Islamabad talks, describing the interim deal as \u201cfairly comprehensive to terminate the war,\u201d while cautioning: \u201cIt is never over till it is done.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pakistani military said in a statement Saturday that negotiations conducted during Munir\u2019s visit, after he returned to Islamabad as a mediator, had produced \u201cencouraging progress toward a final understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘A deal very far and very close’<\/strong><\/p>\n In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the parties were finalizing a 14-point memorandum of understanding that would create a temporary framework for diplomacy.<\/p>\n Parliament Speaker and head of Iran\u2019s negotiating team, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, recently appointed Baghaei as the team\u2019s spokesman.<\/p>\n Speaking on state television Saturday, Baghaei stressed that \u201cIran\u2019s focus at this stage is on ending the war.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the proposed arrangement, he said, Iran and the United States would spend 30 to 60 days after signing the memorandum negotiating the details of the most contentious issues, including Iran\u2019s nuclear program, sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian assets and disputes over the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Baghaei nevertheless cautioned against assuming a breakthrough was imminent. \u201cIt cannot be said that an agreement is near,\u201d he said, adding that the differences between Tehran and Washington are \u201cso deep and extensive\u201d that no one can expect several rounds of meetings over a few weeks or months to necessarily produce results.<\/p>\n In a phrase that quickly circulated across Iranian media and social platforms, Baghaei summarized the uncertainty surrounding the talks by saying: \u201cThe agreement is both very far and very close.\u201d<\/p>\n US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also struck a cautious tone Saturday, saying \u201csome progress\u201d had been made in talks on Iran and suggesting there could be news soon, while warning that no breakthrough was certain.<\/p>\n \u201cThere may be news later today. I don\u2019t have news at this very moment, but there might be some news a little later today,\u201d Rubio told reporters in New Delhi. \u201cThere may not be. I hope there will be, but I\u2019m not sure yet.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that there was \u201ca chance\u201d the United States could have something to say \u201cwhether it\u2019s later today, tomorrow, in a couple days,\u201d but said the issue needed to be solved \u201cone way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n The Financial Times reported citing mediators and people briefed on the talks that the United States and Iran were close to extending their ceasefire by 60 days under a framework that would gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz and launch discussions over Tehran\u2019s highly enriched uranium stockpile.<\/p>\n ‘Collapse of talks still likely’<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite these cautiously positive signals, skepticism remains widespread in both political circles and the Iranian public.<\/p>\n Fada-Hossein Maleki, a member of the Iranian parliament\u2019s National Security Committee who attended Saturday\u2019s meeting between Asim Munir and Ghalibaf, accused Washington of undermining the talks.<\/p>\n In comments to the Iranian Students News Agency, Maleki claimed that both Iranian and Pakistani officials agreed that the United States itself had created many of the obstacles threatening the negotiations.<\/p>\n He specifically accused US envoy Steve Witkoff of providing \u201cunrealistic reports\u201d to Trump, saying Trump\u2019s social media posts based on those reports had \u201ccreated sensitivity in Iran and even upset our Pakistani friends.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Iran\u2019s state news agency IRNA, the process \u201ccould collapse at any moment because of America\u2019s maximalist approaches.\u201d<\/p>\n The IRGC-linked Fars news agency reported citing a source close to the Iranian negotiating team that talks would fail unless the United States showed flexibility.<\/p>\n The source said Tehran would not discuss its nuclear program at this stage and would make any such talks conditional on US confidence-building measures.<\/p>\n Fars reported that the release of Iran\u2019s blocked funds was among Tehran\u2019s main conditions for starting negotiations, while rules for ship passage through the Strait of Hormuz remained another point of dispute.<\/p>\n Despite Washington accepting some of Tehran\u2019s positions, the three issues remain unresolved and Iran is preparing other options, Fars reported citing the source.<\/p>\n Talks will fail, war will resume: poll<\/strong><\/p>\n Public opinion inside Iran also appears deeply pessimistic about the prospects for a lasting agreement. <\/p>\n In an online poll conducted by the conservative Iranian website Tabnak, nearly 70 percent of more than 110,000 respondents predicted that no agreement would ultimately be reached and that the war would resume.<\/p>\n Trump kept the military option on the table Saturday, saying it was a \u201csolid 50\/50\u201d whether the sides would reach an agreement or the US would \u201cblow them to kingdom come.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think one of two things will happen: either I hit them harder than they have ever been hit, or we are going to sign a deal that is good,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest signs of movement followed a flurry of regional diplomacy involving Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the 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