Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Friday that the United States and Iran had reached a final, agreed-upon text of a peace deal to end the war that has gripped global energy markets since February, declaring that “peace has never been this close as it is now.” Sources said the memorandum is being called the “Islamabad declaration,” in recognition of the mediating role Pakistan has played throughout the negotiations.
On Saturday, Sharif added that finalization was likely within the next 24 hours, with Pakistan preparing for an electronic signing of the peace deal to be followed by technical-level talks next week. “We are confident that this historic peace deal will form a strong foundation for lasting peace,” he wrote. A formal signing ceremony would most likely be held in Geneva, Switzerland, sources told CNN — not far from where President Trump and a U.S. delegation will attend a G7 summit in France next week.
Trump said Friday that he anticipated a signing ceremony for the document soon, potentially in Europe, to be attended by Vice President JD Vance. A senior U.S. administration official said both sides had agreed on a text and that Washington expects to sign an initial deal in the coming days. The framework, as the administration has described it, would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lift the U.S. naval blockade, dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, and remove its enriched uranium, with economic benefits flowing to Iran only if it meets its obligations.
But the claimed breakthrough is sharply contested on its specifics. A source close to Iran’s negotiating team told the Fars news agency that reports of a finalized agreement set to be signed in Geneva on Sunday are “completely false.” Trump himself said that leaked details circulating in the media do not represent what has been agreed to in writing. Vice President Vance said he was seeing “a lot of fake information,” emphasizing on X that Iran will not receive any cash and that no funds will be released simply for signing a deal or attending a meeting.
The dueling signals reflect the gap that has dogged the talks for weeks. A document published earlier by Iran’s Mehr News Agency described terms more favorable to Tehran — including a 30-day Hormuz reopening under Iran’s own arrangements, a lifting of the naval blockade, and reconstruction funds — than the version outlined by Washington. A Trump official said Iranian hardliners were trying to make the deal look more favorable to Tehran than what was actually negotiated. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who had said a memorandum “has never been closer,” urged the media to refrain from speculating on the content pending finalization.
For energy markets, the stakes of the weekend are large but the resolution is binary. A confirmed signing with a credible 30-day reopening clause for the Strait of Hormuz would mark the beginning of the end of the largest oil-supply disruption in decades and likely extend crude’s slide when trading resumes Monday. A breakdown over the disputed terms — or a signing that markets judge to be hollow — would risk a sharp reversal. With no text yet confirmed signed by both sides, the deal remains, for now, a claim rather than a certainty.
Continuing coverage: Geopolitics · Iran · Strait of Hormuz Explainer.