The Iranian Government has rejected that the preliminary agreement it is negotiating with the United States will be signed this Sunday as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shebhaz Sharif, estimated this morning, but that it will be closed “in the coming days.”
“The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (…) will not be signed tomorrow. We will have to wait to know the exact date of the signing,” said the spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, according to Iranian public television, IRIB.
Baqaei explained that “it cannot be ruled out that it will happen in the coming days”, but “we must be cautious when making comments due to the other party’s reservations about this process.”
The Iranian spokesperson insisted that the document “focuses on the end of the war and for the moment it has been decided not to deal with the nuclear issue.”
Pakistan said it would be signed within 24 hours
This same Saturday, the Prime Minister of Pakistan announced that this declaration of intent will “probably” be “finalized” in the next 24 hours through an “electronic signature” of the negotiated document; a preliminary agreement that opens the door to 60 days of negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz, among other issues.
“We are closer than ever to a peace agreement. It will probably be finalized in the next 24 hours, in which Pakistan prepares for the electronic signing of the peace agreement immediately afterwards and for negotiations at the technical level next week,” Sharif explained on social networks.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was suspending allegedly planned attacks against Iran, claiming that, after holding “highest level conversations” with Iranian officials, all parties have approved the “final points” of the agreement to end the war unleashed with the Israeli and US offensive against Iran more than three months ago.
Iran has limited itself to clarifying that “as soon as” the “competent” authorities have reached a conclusion on the negotiations, they will announce it, within the framework of open negotiations, mediated by Pakistan, after the ceasefire reached on April 8, marked by recent exchanges of attacks.
Initially, negotiation sources pointed to a signing of the memorandum on Sunday in Geneva, Switzerland, but it could be delayed until the summit of leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) scheduled for Evian, in the French Alps, from June 15 to 17.
Release of Iranian assets, Hormuz and end of hostilities in Lebanon
According to Araqchí’s version, the agreement has two parts; The first refers to the release of Iranian assets blocked abroad, the lifting of both the US and Iranian blockade of Hormuz and the end of hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon.
The diplomat also assured that Iran will establish a control system for Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil transited before the war.
The nuclear issue
In the second part of the agreement the nuclear issue would be addressed later, according to the Iranian politician.
Araqchí considered that “Iran is the winner of the war with the United States”, a country that could not, in his opinion, defeat the Islamic Republic.
From the United States, it is also expected to sign “in the coming days” an agreement that would fulfill the “main objectives” of President Donald Trump, such as reopening the Strait of Hormuz and laying the foundations to dismantle the Iranian nuclear program, a senior Administration official declared this Friday.
“We hope to sign this agreement in the next few days. I can’t give you an exact date,” an official stated on condition of anonymity in a call with reporters in which he said he was 85% confident that the agreement could be signed.
Despite the apparent imminent signing of an agreement, tensions continue in Hormuz. State television reported last night that the Iranian navy attacked a ship that was trying to cross the strait “without permission,” while the United States denounced that Iran launched drones in the strategic passage.
Iran to begin funerals for Ali Khamenei on July 4
Iran will begin the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, killed by the United States and Israel in the war, on July 4, in ceremonies that will span three cities and will culminate with his burial on July 9 in the religious city of Mashad.
The Mosala Mosque in Tehran will host Khamenei’s coffin on July 4 and 5 and on July 6 a funeral procession will tour the capital, Iranian state media reported this Saturday.
A day later the funeral procession will tour the religious city of Qom, located south of Tehran and home to the main seminaries of the Islamic country, and finally Khamenei will be buried on July 9 in the northeastern city of Mashad in the mausoleum of Imam Reza, eighth of Shiism.
