US and Iran have agreed to wording of deal to end war, Pakistan’s PM says

Pakistan’s prime minister said the United States and Iran have agreed to wording of an agreement aimed at ending their war in the Middle East and that mediators are working with both sides to finalise a deal.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the US and Iran have reached a “final, agreed upon text”.

He said Pakistan, which has taken the lead in mediation efforts, was working with the warring countries on next steps.

“Peace has never been this close as it is now,” Mr Sharif said in a post on X.

The apparent breakthrough in negotiations comes after Iran exchanged fire with the US and Israel over three days this week, threatening to return the Middle East to full-scale war.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday an agreement “has never been closer” in a post on X.

US President Donald Trump, who has said multiple times in recent weeks that the countries were on the cusp of a deal, shared Mr Araghchi’s post on his own social media.

The war launched by the US and Israel on February 28 has rattled the Middle East and virtually shut down oil and natural gas shipments from the Persian Gulf.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 7.

Mr Araghchi told Iranian state TV on Friday that both sides were working towards signing an initial agreement declaring an end to the war.

He said terms dealing with Iran’s nuclear programme would be finalised in the following 60 days as they negotiate a final deal.

He said the initial agreement would end the war “on all fronts, including Lebanon”.

Israel has been fighting the Iranian-allied militia Hezbollah in Lebanon since early March.

Israel is not a party to the negotiations between the US and Iran, and its leaders have said they do not plan to withdraw from Lebanon.

A senior US administration official said on Friday that the emerging agreement would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin the process of destroying or removing Tehran’s highly enriched uranium.

The official said the 60-day period after both sides sign the deal would be used to work out technical details for removing Iran’s enriched uranium.

The official did not detail who the US envisions taking charge of removing the uranium, which is believed to be entombed under three nuclear sites that were battered by US strikes last year.

The official said a deal was 80% to 85% done and that the US side believes “most of the people who have authority” in the Iranian government want to sign on to the deal “but not everybody”.

Three regional officials said the emerging deal is also expected to include the phased lifting of sanctions on Iran and the release of frozen Iranian assets.

Underscoring the fragility of the negotiations, Mr Trump on Friday lashed out at Iranian officials on social media and said: “They better get their act together, and FAST!”

That was before he shared Mr Araghchi’s post.

Iran’s nuclear programme has been a key point of division.

The US and Israel fear it could lead to an atomic weapon – a main reason their leaders cited for going to war.

Tehran has insisted its nuclear efforts are for peaceful purposes.

Also critical is Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for oil and natural gas.

Disruption of transit through the strait has crimped global energy supplies, driven up fuel prices and made food and other basics more expensive well beyond the region.

The US official said the emerging agreement includes provisions for reopening the strait.

Mr Araghchi said Iran wants a deal that allows Tehran to charge ships “for services rendered” when they transit the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has imposed a toll system during the war, which the US and other nations say violates international law.

“There will be costs involved,” Mr Araghchi said, “and those costs must be paid.”

Three regional officials said the emerging deal is also expected to include the phased lifting of sanctions on Iran and the release of frozen Iranian assets.

They said they expect a signing ceremony for the agreement in the coming days after officials in Washington and Tehran approve it.

Mr Trump on Thursday claimed significant progress in the negotiations, just hours after he threatened to escalate attacks and seize Iran’s oil industry.

Esmail Baghaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said on state television that mediators were active and the text of a deal was “mostly finalised”.

There was no immediate comment on Friday from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, which has been leading efforts to mediate a deal between the US and Iran.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi had said on Thursday that Pakistan remained involved in negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is not a party to the deal being negotiated.

He said in a statement on Friday that he and Mr Trump were in “full agreement” that Iran must not have nuclear weapons.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said in a separate statement that Israel also expects Mr Trump to uphold key Israeli interests, including weakening Iran’s missile programme and proxy network.

Mr Katz warned that Israel could still act independently towards Iran and that the country would not pull out of the zones it is occupying in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, nor would it withdraw from the northern refugee camps of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Iran has insisted that any deal to end the war must also end fighting in Lebanon between its ally militia Hezbollah and Israel.

Mr Netanyahu appears intent on pursuing his goal of destroying the militant group, complicating negotiations between Iran and the US.

The deal was largely being brokered by Pakistan, led by its army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, the regional officials said, with backing from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Qatar.