Iranians walk in front of an anti-American mural in Tehran, June 3, 2026.
Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images
The United States and Iran are “closer than ever to a peace agreement,” Pakistan’s prime minister said. Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday.
“With finalization likely expected within the next 24 hours, Pakistan is preparing for the electronic signing of the peace agreement immediately thereafter, followed by technical negotiations next week,” he added. Sharif said in a post on.
Later in the day, US President Donald Trump reposted Sharif’s remarks on the president’s Truth Social account without comment.
While Sharif suggested the preliminary deal could be signed soon, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei was quoted by Iranian state media as saying caution should be exercised over the timetable.
“We will have to wait to know the exact date of the signing of the memorandum of understanding, even if it will not be tomorrow,” state media reported. “The possibility of this happening in the coming days cannot be ruled out. However, due to the hesitation of the other side, we must be careful in our comments on this process.”
A senior Trump administration official said Friday that the United States and Iran could sign a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and take steps to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program in the “coming days.”
But the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the latest developments in negotiations with Tehran, said the United States is not at all “100 percent” sure that the agreement it reached, called a memorandum of understanding, will be signed.
“I might have said 75% this morning. It’s probably more like 80%.[%]“-85% now,” the official said. “But it’s not 100%.”
The Iranian system is “very complicated” and there are internal fractures within the regime, the official said.
The memorandum of understanding, as it currently stands, also “guarantees long-term peace in the region” by ending Iran’s financing of violence and imposes “an inspection regime” on the Islamic Republic, the US official said.
If Iran complies, it will be rewarded with “significant” economic relief, including the easing of long-term sanctions and the unfreezing of its assets, the official said.
But these benefits “only accrue if they are truly effective,” the official stressed. The official also said the two sides had not yet determined where an agreement would be signed.
The United States nevertheless believes that both sides like the text in its current form and that they “will reach a signature in the coming days” unless “problems arise”, the official said.
Israel and other regional allies should “join with us,” the official said, even after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday morning that Tel Aviv would not withdraw its forces from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and a northern area of the West Bank.
“We do not expect any country, whether [in] “What we hope is that if we can get everyone involved in the peace process, everyone will do the same.”
The comments come after several politicians, including Trump, expressed more optimism than ever that a deal to end the war was imminent.
Earlier on Friday, Pakistan’s Sharif declared that a “final and agreed text” of an agreement between the WE and Iran “has been reached”.
Pakistan, which played the role of mediator between the two countries throughout their war, is now “working closely with both sides to finalize the next steps”, Sharif said in an X post.
“Peace has never been closer than today,” he wrote.
Trump said Thursday afternoon in the Oval Office that the United States had just “reached a comprehensive settlement to the war with Iran,” subject to the “finalization of the documents.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X before Sharif’s message that a memorandum of understanding “has never been closer.”
The three officials also objected to publicly shared information about the contents of the apparently upcoming deal.
Iran’s Mehr news agency reported earlier Friday 14 purported provisions in the draft deal, including commitments by the United States to lift oil sanctions, end its naval blockade and release Iran’s frozen funds.
Trump wrote angrily Truth on social media later Friday morning, public information about the deal has “NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to in writing.”
— Reuters contributed to this report
