Islamabad MoU nears finalisation as US, Iran clash on signing date

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a post on X on Saturday, announced that the agreement was expected to be “finalised in the next 24 hours”. The deal was “closer…than ever before”, he wrote, hoping that the deal would lay a “strong foundation for lasting peace”. Shortly afterwards, US President Donald Trump reposted PM Shehbaz’s tweet, while Iran ruled out the ‘Islamabad MoU’ would be signed on Sunday. However, both warring parties have declared it would be signed within a day or two. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump insisted that the deal was “scheduled to get signed” on Sunday, which would open the Hormuz. According to the US president, no money will exchange hands and that “at the appropriate time, when all is calm, we will go in and get the nuclear dust … and downblend and destroy it, whether in Iran, or the United States”. “We look forward to working with Iran and the entire Middle East, long into the future. Hopefully, this process will all work out quickly, easily, and smoothly. If it doesn’t, we have the ultimate alternative, hopefully never to be used again!” he added. Iran ruled out signing the deal on Sunday, but said it was close. The exact timing of the signing of the Islamabad memorandum will not be on Sunday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Bag