Middle East crisis live: Pakistan hopes to host US-Iran peace talks ‘very soon’, says PM, after Trump claims Tehran deal ‘largely negotiated’ | Middle East and north Africa
Pakistan hopes to host US-Iran peace talks ‘very soon’ – PM
Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has congratulated Donald Trump on his peace efforts and said Pakistan hopes to host another round of talks between the US and Iran “very soon”.
Sharif also said in a post on X that the US president held a “very useful and productive” phone call earlier in the day with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, Jordan and Pakistan, with Pakistani army chief Syed Asim Munir also on the line.
Sharif said:
double quotation mark The discussions provided a useful opportunity to exchange views on the current regional situation and how to move the ongoing peace efforts forward to bring lasting peace in the region. Pakistan will continue its peace efforts with utmost sincerity and we hope to host the next round of talks very soon.”
US vice-president JD Vance led a US delegation to Islamabad in the first round of peace talks with Iran six weeks ago, which ended without an agreement.
Key events
Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia has said conditions are now right for Middle Eastern countries to “unite in the reconstruction of the region” and build it up.
Alireza Enayati also said on X (in a translation) that Iran had “strong ropes that have kept the tent of Iran safe from fierce winds and destructive storms throughout history” and that it “remains proud” during hardships.
He said:
double quotation mark Iran is a new opportunity for the region to think about the future by moving away from the repetitive literature of the past. Now, conditions are in place for all countries in the region to unite in the reconstruction of the region and to work together to build the region.”
Iran executed one person for charges related to sending information to the US and Israel during the war, the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported on Sunday, according to Reuters.
The individual was sending data about Iran’s defence industry to “the enemy”, the news agency alleged.
The draft agreement between the US and Iran also makes clear the Israel- Hezbollah war in Lebanon would end, Axios is reporting.
The newsite quotes an unnamed Israeli official as saying Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed concern about that condition – and other aspects of the deal – during a call with Donald Trump on Saturday.
The report went on:
double quotation mark The US official said it would not be a ‘one-sided ceasefire’ and if Hezbollah tried to rearm or instigate attacks, Israel would be allowed to take action to prevent it. ‘If Hezbollah behaves, Israel will behave.’”
As just mentioned, the report says the agreement is only in unfinalised draft form and “could still fall apart”, according to a US official.
Peace draft involves reopening Hormuz strait during 60-day truce extension – report
The agreement the US and Iran are reportedly close to signing involves a 60-day ceasefire extension during which the strait of Hormuz would be reopened, according to Axios.
During that time Iran would be able to freely sell oil and negotiations would be held on curbing Iran’s nuclear program, the US news site is reporting, citing an American official, while also saying the details were in an agreement “draft” as it currently stood.
“Those details have not been confirmed by the Iranian side, though Tehran has also indicated a deal is getting close,” the report says.
Some of the draft details look to align with what is being reported from sources quoted by the Associated Press and the New York Times, as our full report details.
The deal would avoid an escalation of the war and decrease the pressure on the global oil supply, Axios says, adding:
double quotation mark However, it’s unclear whether it will lead to a lasting peace agreement that also addresses President Trump’s nuclear demands.”
The report says that during the 60-day Hormuz strait reopening, Iran would agree to clear mines it deployed in the waterway and allow ships to pass freely. In exchange, the US would lift its blockade on Iranian ports.
The report also says:
double quotation mark Both Trump and the mediators have indicated the deal could be announced on Sunday, though it has not been finalized and could still fall apart.”
Amid Israel’s strikes on Lebanon this weekend, Hezbollah said Iran pledged not to abandon the militant group.
Tehran-backed Hezbollah said its leader, Naim Qassem, had received a message from Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi saying the latest proposal through Pakistani mediators aimed ending the regional war emphasised “the demand to include Lebanon” in the broader ceasefire.
Lebanese authorities, however, have insisted the country’s ongoing talks with Israel under US auspices must be independent from the Iran-US negotiations, as AFP reports.
Israel’s military has been pounding Lebanon despite the US-brokered truce that was recently extended by six weeks, while Hezbollah has also kept up attacks on Israeli targets.
The group said Araghchi’s message indicated Iran “will not give up its support” for Hezbollah.
Iran has previously demanded there be a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon before any peace deal with the US.
Hezbollah has vehemently rejected the US-hosted talks between Lebanon and Israel that led to the truce.
Lebanon’s military stressed this week that its soldiers were loyal to the institution after the US announced sanctions that included an officer accused of sharing information with Hezbollah.
Israeli strike destroys Lebanese civil defence building, agency says
In Lebanon, the civil defence agency said early on Sunday its regional facility in the southern city of Nabatieh had been destroyed by an Israeli strike.
The Directorate General of Civil Defence said the building had collapsed and a large number of vehicles and equipment had been damaged by a “direct hit in a hostile Israeli strike”.
It added there were no reports of casualties among its personnel, who had been moved to another location before the incident, Agence France-Presse is reporting.
The civil defence agency condemned “this attack on a centre dedicated to humanitarian and relief work”, stressing that it was facing “growing risks and challenges” in carrying out its operations.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon have continued despite a truce that came into effect on 17 April, with Israel saying it is targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has kept up attacks on Israeli targets in south Lebanon and northern Israel.
A key element of the proposed agreement between Iran and the US is an apparent commitment by Tehran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the New York Times is quoting US officials as saying.
The officials said the proposal did not settle the issue of precisely how Iran would give up its stockpile, putting off the details for a coming round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program, the report said.
But a general statement that Iran would commit to doing so – a longtime US goal – was critical to the deal, it said.
Iran originally balked at including any agreement on its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in this apparent initial phase, demanding it be put off until the second stage of talks. But US negotiators said they made clear to Iran that without some agreement on the stockpile in the initial part of the deal, they would walk away and resume their military campaign, the report said.
White House officials did not return Times requests for comment. Iran hasn’t commented publicly on the agreement Trump flagged.
Pakistan hopes to host US-Iran peace talks ‘very soon’ – PM
Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has congratulated Donald Trump on his peace efforts and said Pakistan hopes to host another round of talks between the US and Iran “very soon”.
Sharif also said in a post on X that the US president held a “very useful and productive” phone call earlier in the day with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, Jordan and Pakistan, with Pakistani army chief Syed Asim Munir also on the line.
Sharif said:
double quotation mark The discussions provided a useful opportunity to exchange views on the current regional situation and how to move the ongoing peace efforts forward to bring lasting peace in the region. Pakistan will continue its peace efforts with utmost sincerity and we hope to host the next round of talks very soon.”
US vice-president JD Vance led a US delegation to Islamabad in the first round of peace talks with Iran six weeks ago, which ended without an agreement.
Mike Pompeo condemns emerging deal
Former Trump secretary of state Mike Pompeo has sharply criticised the apparent emerging terms of a peace deal as benefiting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and being too close to those Barack Obama’s negotiators struck with Iran in a nuclear agreement Donald Trump later abandoned.
Pompeo said in a post on X:
double quotation mark The deal being floated with Iran seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook: Pay the IRGC to build a WMD program and terrorize the world. Not remotely America First. It’s straightforward: Open the damned strait. Deny Iran access to money. Take out enough Iranian capability so it cannot threaten our allies in the region.”
Pompeo was secretary of state and CIA director during Trump’s first term.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson has posted a cryptic message on X that might be read as referring to Donald Trump.
Esmaeil Baqaei’s post says:
double quotation mark In the Roman mind, Rome was the undisputed center of the world. Yet the Iranians shattered that illusion; when Marcus Julius Philippus (Philip the Arab) marched east against Persia, the campaign did not result in Roman victory — it ended in a peace established on Sasanian terms: the emperor had to come to terms!
Trump’s announcement of a deal with Iran being close said it would involve reopening the strait of Hormuz, without giving further details – but getting the waterway reopened has been a central concern for Washington amid the war.
Why is the strait so important? It’s one of the world’s most vital arteries for global trade, and Iran’s chokehold on it has crippled international shipping and sent energy prices soaring, bringing fears of driving a global economic downturn.
About 20% of all global oil supplies and seaborne gas tankers pass through the strait.
It lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf to the north with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond – a location that makes it a crucial chokepoint for oil deliveries from Opec countries to customers in Asia. Options to bypass the strait are limited.
You can read more in this explainer:
Pakistan says ‘encouraging’ progress towards peace deal
The Pakistani army has said the negotiations with Iran resulted in “encouraging” progress towards a final understanding.
The deal being negotiated was “fairly comprehensive to terminate the war”, two Pakistani sources involved in the negotiations to end the war told Reuters.
Iran had said on Saturday that it was working towards a memorandum of understanding with the US laying out an approach to ending the war after its top officials met with Pakistani army chief Asim Munir.
Reuters quoted sources as saying the proposed framework would unfold in three stages: formally ending the war, resolving the crisis in the strait of Hormuz and launching a 30-day window for negotiations on a broader agreement, which can be extended.
One of the Pakistani sources also there was no guarantee the US would accept the memorandum. If it did, it would lead to further talks after the Eid holiday ended on Friday.
On Saturday Donald Trump told Axios he expected to decide on Sunday whether to resume attacks on Iran. “Either we reach a good deal or I’ll blow them to a thousand hells,” the news site quoted him as saying.
Trump’s social media post made no mention of Iran’s nuclear program and highly enriched uranium, which Tehran has sought to negotiate over later, but came amid growing optimism among officials over a potential deal to end the war.
Earlier on Saturday, a regional official with direct knowledge of the Pakistan-led mediation efforts said the US and Iran were closing in on an agreement.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door deliberations, also told the Associated Press that “last-minute disputes” could blow up the efforts.
This is not the first time in recent weeks that a deal has been described as close.
The official said the deal would include an official declaration of the end of the war, with two-month negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. The strait of Hormuz would be reopened and the US would end its blockade of Iran’s ports .
Iran, meanwhile, had signalled “narrowing differences” in negotiations after Pakistani army chief Asim Munir held more talks in Tehran.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio earlier pointed to “some good signs” while also saying: “I don’t want to be overly optimistic … so let’s see what happens over the next few days.”
Donald Trump made the announcement via a Truth Social post, saying he had spoken to a host of leaders in the Middle East by phone, including a separate call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which he said “went very well”.
He added: “Final aspects and details of the deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly. In addition to many other elements of the agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened.”
As we reported in the summary, the Fars news agency, which is close to the regime in Tehran, has said Trump’s assertion that an agreement was nearly final was “inconsistent with reality”.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Iran war and the wider Middle East crisis.
Donald Trump has announced that a peace deal with Iran “has been largely negotiated”, after calls with a Pakistani mediator, Gulf allies and Israel, potentially paving the way for an end to the war launched by the US and Israel in February.
Trump wrote that the “final aspects and details” of a “Memorandum of Understanding” are still being discussed and “will be announced shortly”, but said the strait of Hormuz will be opened as part of the deal.
However, Iran’s Fars news agency, which is close to the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that the strait would remain under Iranian control, and that Trump’s assertion that an agreement was nearly final was “inconsistent with reality”.
Three senior Iranian officials told the New York Times the agreement would stop the fighting in Iran and in Lebanon, and could release $25bn in Iranian assets frozen overseas, with a nuclear agreement to be negotiated within 30 to 60 days.
We will bring you the latest developments, as they happen.
