The United States and Iran have agreed on the wording of an agreement to end their war in the Middle East, with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirming on 12 June 2026 that a "final, agreed upon text of the peace deal has been reached," according to AP News. Pakistani officials added that only the next steps remain to be finalised, with US officials expressing confidence that a signing could come within days.

Pakistan's role in brokering the agreement has been central. Islamabad served as a back-channel conduit throughout, delivering a revised Iranian proposal to Washington as far back as May 2026 — a role that earned Sharif's government domestic recognition: Pakistan's foreign ministry press briefing of 16 April 2026 noted that the cabinet had congratulated the Prime Minister on diplomatic efforts that had already contributed to an earlier Iran-US ceasefire. That earlier ceasefire and the subsequent months of shuttle diplomacy laid the groundwork for the text now described as finalised.

The Deal's Core Architecture

The framework that has taken shape across multiple rounds of negotiation addresses three interlocking issues: nuclear constraints, the Strait of Hormuz, and the release of frozen Iranian assets.

On nuclear terms, the US position has been unambiguous. Trump stated publicly that Iran must agree to never acquire a nuclear weapon, and a White House official told CBS News that those redlines are non-negotiable. The Strait of Hormuz — the 21-mile chokepoint through which roughly a fifth of global seaborne oil passes — has been closed or severely disrupted since the outbreak of hostilities. Under the terms as reported by Reuters on 27 May 2026, Iran would restore commercial shipping through the strait to pre-war levels within one month of signing. Earlier Washington Post reporting from 25 May 2026 indicated that the MOU itself would trigger an immediate reopening, with Iran taking steps to normalise traffic from day one.

The sequencing matters enormously to commodity and energy markets. Brent crude pricing has been structurally elevated since Hormuz traffic was disrupted, and tanker insurance premia — war-risk surcharges have run at extraordinary multiples of peacetime rates — have added a persistent cost floor to global energy supply chains. Restoration of pre-war throughput within 30 days, if it holds, would be a material supply shock in reverse. Axios reported on 24 May 2026 that the broader structure involves a 60-day ceasefire extension during which the strait reopening would occur, suggesting the two sides are managing the unwinding in phases rather than all at once.

Getting Here

The trajectory was not linear. As late as 25 May 2026, Reuters reported that the US was simultaneously launching fresh strikes on Iranian boats and missile sites while talks continued — a posture that reflected Washington's leverage strategy rather than any breakdown in diplomacy. Secretary Rubio stated publicly that the US would "find another way" if talks failed, an explicit threat designed to keep Iranian negotiators engaged on US terms.

Trump had signalled the direction of travel in late May: by 23 May he described the framework as "largely negotiated," and by 30 May he convened what was described as a meeting to make a "final determination" on the deal, reiterating the Hormuz reopening as a condition. The deal text now confirmed by both Washington and Islamabad is consistent with those stated parameters.

The diplomatic architecture is notable for what it required. Muscat hosted the early formal rounds — Pakistan welcomed the April 2025 Oman talks — and Islamabad maintained its back-channel role across more than a year of on-and-off contact. For Pakistan, whose own economic stability is tightly linked to Gulf energy flows and diaspora remittances, a durable Iran-US settlement carries direct national interest, not merely reputational gain.

What remains open is the signing ceremony itself: location, date, and the precise scope of sanctions relief tied to frozen Iranian funds have not been publicly confirmed in the finalised text. Markets have been pricing a deal for weeks; whether the confirmed text triggers a further re-rating of energy, shipping, and regional risk assets will depend on how quickly those remaining logistics resolve — and whether the 60-day ceasefire extension holds long enough for implementation to begin.