American and Iranian negotiators have agreed on the framework of a memorandum of understanding that would extend their ceasefire by 60 days and open formal talks on Iran's nuclear programme, US officials confirmed on Thursday. However, President Donald Trump has not yet approved the agreement, and Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said the text had not been finalised or confirmed on its side either, underscoring how fluid the situation remains.
The tentative deal, first reported by Axios, was broadly confirmed by Vice President JD Vance, who told reporters that negotiators were "going back and forth on a couple of language points" — including the critical question of uranium enrichment. "We're not there yet, but we're very close and we're going to keep on working at it," Vance said, adding that the US believed Iran was negotiating in "good faith." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, leading a White House briefing earlier in the day, declined to confirm a deal had been reached, saying it was "all going to be the president's decision" and that Trump would not make a bad deal for the American people.
According to officials briefed on the negotiations, the proposed agreement would require Iran to pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons and to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — the precise disposal method to be worked out over the 60-day period, with options including dilution or transfer to a third country such as Russia. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates Iran currently holds around 441 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a short technical step from weapons-grade levels. The deal would also gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas normally flows — as the US lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, with sanctions waivers enabling Iran to resume oil sales.
The agreement is emerging against a backdrop of renewed military exchanges. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it struck a US base in Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for overnight US strikes on southern Iran, and Iranian state media claimed its forces had downed a US aircraft — an assertion flatly denied by US Central Command. Iran's Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei separately accused the US and Israel of seeking to "bring the nation to its knees." The US Treasury also sanctioned Iran's newly formed Persian Gulf Strait Authority and warned Oman — a key diplomatic intermediary in the talks — against facilitating any tolling system in the strait.
Why this matters: The conflict between the US and Iran, which began in late February, has severely disrupted global energy markets, pushed oil prices sharply higher, and rattled supply chains far beyond the Middle East. A 60-day extension would buy time for negotiations on the far more complex questions surrounding Iran's nuclear programme, though the contradictory signals from both capitals suggest a final agreement remains uncertain. Trump faces growing pressure from Gulf allies, congressional Democrats, and some Republicans to end the war, but has made clear that a return to military operations — what officials call "option B" — remains on the table if diplomacy fails.