US and Iran close to extending ceasefire by 60 days, say mediators

Mediators believe they are closing in on a deal to extend the US ceasefire with Iran by 60 days and lay the framework for discussions on the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.

People briefed on the high-stakes talks said it would include a gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a commitment to discuss the diluting or handing over of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

The US would also ease its blockade of Iranian ports and agree to sanctions relief as well as the phased unfreezing of Tehran’s assets held overseas.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmael Baghaei said on Saturday that Tehran was discussing a “memorandum of understanding” to end the war as the first phase of a deal, before moving on to thrash out the details of a broader agreement within 30 to 60 days.

“We are now finalising this memorandum of understanding,” he said.

Mediators hope that the terms of the agreement will dissuade US President Donald Trump from resuming strikes on the Islamic republic.

“The deal seems to be going in the right direction. It’s with the Americans now for review,” a diplomat briefed on the talks said. “Iranians are likely ready to give more on nuclear energy but won’t do it while the war is ongoing — this deal helps bridge the gap.”

The signs of progress came after Pakistani and Qatari negotiators held crunch talks with Iranian counterparts on Thursday and Friday.

The mediators were in regular contact with US envoy Steve Witkoff while talking to the Iranian delegation, which was led by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the parliamentary speaker, and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.

Ghalibaf, one of Iran’s top wartime civilian leaders, told field marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s lead negotiator, that Tehran would not step back from its “rights”, especially when dealing with the US, which “has not been sincere and cannot be trusted”.

But he added that Iran would use diplomacy to secure its “legitimate rights and interests”. Ghalibaf also said Iran had rebuilt its military capabilities during the ceasefire, which began in early April, and was prepared to respond in a more “crushing” manner should the US commit the “folly” of restarting the war, according to Iranian media.

Underscoring the tenuous state of progress, Baghaei said the two sides were both “very far and very close” to an agreement.

“On one hand, we have the experience of the American side’s contradictory statements and shifting positions. They have put forth conflicting stances several times,” Baghaei said. “We cannot be completely certain that this approach will not change.

“On the other hand, the views [of the two sides] are getting closer, not in the sense that we have reached an agreement on such significant issues, but in the sense that we can reach a mutually satisfactory solution based on a set of parameters.”

One of the big stumbling blocks has been Trump’s insistence that Iran must hand over its stockpile of 440kg of uranium enriched close to weapons-grade levels and that the republic must never have the capacity to develop a nuclear weapon.

The US president has also demanded that Iran dismantle its three main nuclear sites — Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan — which the US bombed after joining Israel’s 12-day war against the republic last June.

The highly enriched uranium is believed to be beneath the rubble of those sites, mostly at Isfahan.

The intense push to get an agreement over the line and build on a fragile ceasefire agreed on April 8 comes amid fears that if no deal is reached Trump would resume strikes on the Islamic republic in days, escalating a war that has spread across the Middle East.

Trump on Monday said that the US held off from renewing attacks on Iran — which he said would have been launched the following day — while adding that “serious negotiations” with Tehran were taking place. He said Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE had asked him to suspend the military assault.

Washington’s regional allies fear that a resumption of US-Israeli strikes would cause Iran to retaliate by striking Gulf states, which have borne the brunt of the Islamic republic’s attacks, and exacerbate the worst global energy crisis in decades.