“Nothing has been agreed yet.” That was the caveat attached to Axios’s May 6 report that Washington and Tehran were nearing a one-page memorandum to stop their war.
The document runs to 14 points. Al-Monitor reported that it would declare an end to hostilities and set a 30-day period of negotiations on a detailed agreement. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are handling the talks with Iranian officials, partly through intermediaries. Washington expected Iran’s answer within 48 hours.
A Pakistani mediator put it to Reuters this way: “We will close this very soon. We are getting close.”
What the draft would do
Three trades sit at the center, according to Anadolu Agency and Iran International, both citing Axios. Iran would pause uranium enrichment. The United States would lift sanctions in stages and free billions in frozen Iranian assets. Both sides would ease restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The follow-on talks would cover the strait, Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of sanctions. Islamabad or Geneva could host them.
Iran would also promise not to develop nuclear weapons, accept stronger UN inspections that include unannounced checks, and possibly suspend work at underground facilities, Iran International reported.
The number still in dispute
How long the enrichment pause lasts is unsettled. Iran proposed five years. The US wants 20. Axios reported that talks have drifted toward something between 12 and 15 years.
The reporting also said President Trump put off a planned military operation to protect the ceasefire. If talks fail, Anadolu noted, the US could bring back its naval blockade or resume strikes.
Doubts on both sides
Al-Monitor described the moment as the closest the parties had come to a deal since the war began. Iran, for its part, said it would accept only a “fair” agreement. That statement followed a brief US naval mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which had disrupted an earlier ceasefire.
White House officials told Axios they believe Iran’s leadership is fragmented, which could make it hard to get a consensus on any text. Some American officials doubted that even this first step would materialize. Reuters said it could not independently verify the Axios account when it published.
Sources
- US, Iran getting close to one-page agreement to end war: report (Anadolu Agency)
- US and Iran closing in on one-page memo to end war, Axios reports (Al-Monitor)
- US, Iran near one-page deal to end war – Axios (Iran International)
